Everence Capital Management Inc. Purchases 3,290 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Everence Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 82.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,300 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,290 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $1,659,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,859,128 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,863,118,000 after buying an additional 106,063 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 20.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,487,106 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $500,033,000 after buying an additional 424,684 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 102.6% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,219,291 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $446,189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123,755 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 28.0% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,212,497 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $444,821,000 after purchasing an additional 483,878 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.4% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,843,051 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $421,878,000 after purchasing an additional 26,197 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on LH shares. TheStreet cut shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Argus upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Leerink Partnrs restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $222.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Friday, February 9th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $240.00 price objective for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.50.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $201.92 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $16.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.24, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $215.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $214.79. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1 year low of $174.20 and a 1 year high of $234.09.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The medical research company reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.29 by $0.01. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.24% and a return on equity of 13.99%. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.14 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 24th. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is currently 61.67%.

Insider Transactions at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 34,504 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.97, for a total value of $7,451,828.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 23,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,095,812.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Laboratory Co. of America news, COO Mark S. Schroeder sold 5,048 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.45, for a total transaction of $1,102,735.60. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,100,114.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 34,504 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.97, for a total transaction of $7,451,828.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,095,812.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 54,305 shares of company stock valued at $11,761,059 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Company Profile

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings operates as a life sciences company that provides vital information to help doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, researchers, and patients make clear and confident decisions. It operates in two segments, Labcorp Diagnostics (Dx) and Biopharma Laboratory Services (BLS).