Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Boosts Holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 22.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 577,189 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 105,443 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $128,990,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 4.3% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 4,890 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,068,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $282,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the first quarter valued at $211,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 99.3% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,178 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $476,000 after purchasing an additional 1,085 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the first quarter valued at $1,654,000. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LH. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $250.00 to $240.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. StockNews.com lowered Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group increased their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, HSBC upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $255.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Laboratory Co. of America

In related news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the firm’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 owns 13,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,156,060. This trade represents a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total transaction of $1,506,835.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of LH opened at $239.67 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.36, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50-day moving average of $226.12 and a 200 day moving average of $217.03. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1-year low of $191.97 and a 1-year high of $247.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.30.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.02. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.27% and a net margin of 3.43%. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.38 earnings per share. Laboratory Co. of America’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.53 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

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