Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Grows Holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 0.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 92,930 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 484 shares during the quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp owned approximately 0.11% of Laboratory Co. of America worth $20,768,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 135.0% in the second 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 acquiring an additional 924,881 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 25.4% during the second quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,949,640 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $396,771,000 after acquiring an additional 395,197 shares in the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. acquired a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the second quarter valued at approximately $73,928,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 263,105 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,586,397 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $354,528,000 after purchasing an additional 230,708 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on LH shares. StockNews.com lowered Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. HSBC upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $250.00 to $240.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $256.75.

Insider Activity

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, CMO Amy B. Summy sold 3,672 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.91, for a total transaction of $877,277.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 4,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,031,613.38. The trade was a 45.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction on 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 sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 24,572 shares of company stock valued at $5,910,209. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LH opened at $231.84 on Friday. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1 year low of $191.97 and a 1 year high of $247.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $230.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $219.97. The firm has a market cap of $19.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.84, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.44.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.