Vontobel Holding Ltd. Cuts Stock Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lowered its stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,133 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 3,328 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. owned 0.06% of Laboratory Co. of America worth $12,077,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LH. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 532.2% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,530,675 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $360,441,000 after acquiring an additional 1,288,574 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 102.6% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,219,291 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $446,189,000 after acquiring an additional 1,123,755 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 644.2% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 1,108,776 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $219,236,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 3,836.8% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 806,975 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $162,243,000 after acquiring an additional 786,477 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LH has been the topic of several analyst reports. TheStreet cut Laboratory Co. of America from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. SVB Leerink began coverage on Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Monday, February 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. Leerink Partnrs reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Monday, February 26th. Evercore ISI began coverage on Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Friday, February 9th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $240.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays began coverage on Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $222.00 price target on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Laboratory Co. of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.50.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of LH stock opened at $203.39 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.11 billion, a PE ratio of 43.55, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $215.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $214.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.17. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 52-week low of $174.20 and a 52-week high of $234.09.

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

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 24th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is 61.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Mark S. Schroeder sold 6,477 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.29, for a total value of $1,407,387.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 5,036 shares in the company, valued at $1,094,272.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Laboratory Co. of America news, COO Mark S. Schroeder sold 6,477 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.29, for a total value of $1,407,387.33. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,094,272.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Divincenzo sold 500 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 $215.49, for a total transaction of $107,745.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $732,881.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 54,305 shares of company stock worth $11,761,059. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

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 (Dx) and Biopharma Laboratory Services (BLS).