Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Boosts Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 2.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 549,386 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,145 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $122,777,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $442,197,000 after purchasing an additional 29,046 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $416,893,000 after buying an additional 263,105 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 135.0% during the 2nd 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 buying an additional 924,881 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,417,645 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $288,519,000 after acquiring an additional 33,497 shares during the period. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP increased its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 26.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 928,250 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $188,908,000 after acquiring an additional 196,119 shares in the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 87,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,289,260.27. This represents a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 13,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,156,060. This represents a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 8,189 shares of company stock worth $1,976,256. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on LH shares. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of 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. Truist Financial increased their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $255.92.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of LH opened at $241.24 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.18 billion, a PE ratio of 46.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s fifty day moving average is $226.43 and its 200 day moving average is $217.39. 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 Holdings has a fifty-two week low of $191.97 and a fifty-two week high of $247.99.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 15.27%. The business’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.38 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.71%.

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.