Commerce Bank Lowers Stock Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Commerce Bank cut its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 32,805 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,801 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $7,331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LH. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,978,686 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $442,197,000 after purchasing an additional 29,046 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 16.4% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,865,460 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $416,893,000 after acquiring an additional 263,105 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 135.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,609,826 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $327,616,000 after purchasing an additional 924,881 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,417,645 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $288,519,000 after purchasing an additional 33,497 shares during the period. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 26.8% in the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 928,250 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $188,908,000 after purchasing an additional 196,119 shares during the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LH has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. HSBC upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $255.92.

Insider Transactions at Laboratory Co. of America

In related news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total value of $1,506,835.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 87,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,289,260.27. This represents a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $230,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,722 shares in the company, valued at $3,156,060. The trade was a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

NYSE:LH opened at $240.42 on Friday. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a twelve month low of $191.97 and a twelve month high of $247.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $20.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.50, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $225.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $216.66.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 15.27%. Laboratory Co. of America’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.71%.

Laboratory Co. of America Company Profile

Labcorp Holdings Inc provides laboratory services. It operates through two segments, Diagnostics Laboratories and Biopharma Laboratory Services. The company offers various tests, such as blood chemistry analyses, urinalyses, blood cell counts, thyroid, PAP, hemoglobin A1C and vitamin D, prostate-specific antigens, sexually transmitted diseases, hepatitis C, microbiology cultures and procedures, and alcohol and other substance-abuse tests.