Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Receives $243.50 Average Target Price from Analysts

Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $243.50.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 25th. SVB Leerink assumed coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Leerink Partnrs restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Friday, February 9th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $240.00 price objective for the company. Finally, TheStreet downgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of LH stock opened at $201.48 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $213.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $214.70. The company has a market cap of $16.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.14, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.01. Laboratory Co. of America has a 12 month low of $174.20 and a 12 month high of $234.09.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The medical research company reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Mark S. Schroeder sold 6,477 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.29, for a total transaction of $1,407,387.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,094,272.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Laboratory Co. of America news, COO Mark S. Schroeder sold 6,477 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.29, for a total transaction of $1,407,387.33. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,036 shares in the company, valued at $1,094,272.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 259 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.06, for a total transaction of $57,513.54. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 7,637 shares in the company, valued at $1,695,872.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,305 shares of company stock valued at $11,761,059 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LH. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 532.2% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,530,675 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $360,441,000 after buying an additional 1,288,574 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $291,045,000. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $446,189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123,755 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 644.2% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,280,884 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $257,522,000 after purchasing an additional 1,108,776 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 3,836.8% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 806,975 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $162,243,000 after purchasing an additional 786,477 shares during the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Laboratory Co. of America

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).