Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 73,944 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lessened its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 749,268 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 73,944 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $167,447,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LH. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 2.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 114,488 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,012,000 after purchasing an additional 2,934 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $473,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 18.9% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 150,046 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $32,802,000 after acquiring an additional 23,860 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 13.8% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 187,286 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $40,259,000 after acquiring an additional 22,759 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 35.4% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 31,435 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,397,000 after purchasing an additional 8,218 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. 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 report on Monday, September 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $255.92.

Insider Transactions at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.05, for a total value of $454,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $833,273.50. This represents a 35.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 87,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,289,260.27. The trade was a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 9,189 shares of company stock worth $2,190,936. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:LH opened at $235.21 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $19.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.50, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.05. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 12 month low of $191.97 and a 12 month high of $247.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $224.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $215.73.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 15.27% and a net margin of 3.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.38 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.71%.

About Laboratory Co. of America

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.