Metis Global Partners LLC Acquires 72 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 1.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,432 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $990,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in LH. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,978,686 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $442,197,000 after buying an additional 29,046 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 16.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 263,105 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $327,616,000 after purchasing an additional 924,881 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 2.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,417,645 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $288,519,000 after purchasing an additional 33,497 shares during the period. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 26.8% during the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 928,250 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $188,908,000 after purchasing an additional 196,119 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $230,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,156,060. The trade was a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total value of $1,506,835.83. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 87,441 shares in the company, valued at $21,289,260.27. The trade was a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. HSBC upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. 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, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Five 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $255.92.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE LH opened at $235.21 on Monday. 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 market capitalization of $19.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.50, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $224.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $215.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business 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 firm earned $3.38 EPS. Laboratory Co. of America’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.53 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.