Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Shares Sold by Moran Wealth Management LLC

Moran Wealth Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 13,032 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 543 shares during the quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $3,145,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LH. Macquarie Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 8.4% in the first quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 6,961 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,597,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 3.5% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 9,288 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,131,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co. increased its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 16.9% in the first quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co. now owns 7,490 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,718,000 after acquiring an additional 1,081 shares in the last quarter. Inceptionr LLC increased its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 2.5% in the first quarter. Inceptionr LLC now owns 3,190 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $732,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Payden & Rygel acquired a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the first quarter worth $8,592,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.37% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE LH opened at $211.10 on Tuesday. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 12 month low of $174.20 and a 12 month high of $222.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The company has a market capitalization of $17.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.22 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $203.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $212.67.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The medical research company reported $3.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.37 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 4.88% and a return on equity of 14.09%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.68 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 13.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 7th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, CAO Peter J. Wilkinson sold 1,384 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.71, for a total transaction of $291,622.64. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $439,751.77. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.65% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LH has been the subject of several recent research reports. TheStreet lowered shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 26th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $251.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 18th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $238.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $285.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $259.00 to $261.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.67.

Laboratory Co. of America 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 and Labcorp Drug Development.