Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Has $140.31 Million Stock Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC cut its stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 2.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 627,838 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 17,477 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned about 0.75% of Laboratory Co. of America worth $140,309,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the second quarter valued at $27,000. SouthState Corp acquired a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $232.01 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $230.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $220.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.88, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.05. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 52 week low of $191.97 and a 52 week 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.27% and a net margin of 3.43%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.52 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $250.00 to $240.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. 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. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $257.67.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In related news, Director Dwight Gary Gilliland sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.00, for a total value of $241,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,858,592. The trade was a 11.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 11,711 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.43, for a total value of $2,815,675.73. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 31,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,522,814.27. This trade represents a 27.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,572 shares of company stock worth $5,910,209 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America 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.