Auxier Asset Management Makes New Investment in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Auxier Asset Management acquired a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 955 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 2.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,934 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 115.7% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,088 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,361,000 after purchasing an additional 3,265 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the second quarter worth $473,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 13.8% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 187,286 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $40,259,000 after buying an additional 22,759 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 35.4% in 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 buying an additional 8,218 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Laboratory Co. of America 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 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 trade represents a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were 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 approximately $3,156,060. This represents a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,861 shares of company stock valued at $2,853,533 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $242.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $227.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $217.95. The stock has a market cap of $20.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.05. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1-year low of $191.97 and a 1-year high of $247.99.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on LH shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price 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 boosted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on 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. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $255.92.

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.