Clearstead Advisors LLC Increases Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Clearstead Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH – Get Rating) by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,718 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Clearstead Advisors LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $557,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 48.9% during the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,496 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the third quarter worth approximately $449,000. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC raised its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 70.3% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC now owns 69,222 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $14,177,000 after purchasing an additional 28,581 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 2.1% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 597,545 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $122,383,000 after purchasing an additional 12,196 shares during the period. Finally, Twinbeech Capital LP purchased a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the third quarter worth approximately $11,240,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.70% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

LH opened at $222.23 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $245.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $233.10. The firm has a market cap of $19.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.03 and a beta of 1.06. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a twelve month low of $200.32 and a twelve month high of $281.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The medical research company reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 8.60% and a return on equity of 17.68%. The business’s revenue was down 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.77 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 17.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 22nd. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Laboratory Co. of America

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 219 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.01, for a total transaction of $53,219.19. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,297,916.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Laboratory Co. of America news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 219 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.01, for a total transaction of $53,219.19. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,297,916.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 173 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.90, for a total transaction of $43,924.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,341 shares in the company, valued at $1,356,079.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,701 shares of company stock worth $2,178,302 in the last ninety days. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LH has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 17th. Credit Suisse Group dropped their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $304.00 to $288.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $290.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $283.50.

About Laboratory Co. of America

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Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings operates as a life sciences company, which engages in the provision of vital information to help health professionals make clear and confident decisions. It operates through the Drug Development and Diagnostics segments. The Drug Development segment consists of lead optimization, preclinical safety assessment, analytical services, clinical trials, central laboratories, biomarkers, and companion diagnostics, market access, and technology solutions.