Greenleaf Trust Grows Stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Greenleaf Trust grew its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,652 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LH. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 102.6% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,219,291 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $446,189,000 after acquiring an additional 1,123,755 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 644.2% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,280,884 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $257,522,000 after acquiring an additional 1,108,776 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 3,836.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 806,975 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $162,243,000 after acquiring an additional 786,477 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 28.0% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,212,497 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $444,821,000 after acquiring an additional 483,878 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 536.0% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 540,429 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $108,653,000 after purchasing an additional 455,462 shares during the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on LH. SVB Leerink began 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 target for the company. Evercore ISI began 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 target for the company. Leerink Partnrs reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Monday, February 26th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, CMO Amy B. Summy sold 227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.45, for a total value of $49,588.15. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 3,859 shares in the company, valued at $842,998.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 237 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.45, for a total transaction of $53,668.65. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,637 shares in the company, valued at $1,729,398.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Amy B. Summy sold 227 shares of the 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 $49,588.15. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 3,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $842,998.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,305 shares of company stock worth $11,761,059. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LH opened at $203.07 on Tuesday. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1 year low of $174.20 and a 1 year high of $234.09. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $213.25 and its 200 day moving average is $214.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.01.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The medical research company reported $3.30 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.14 earnings per share. Laboratory Co. of America’s quarterly revenue was down 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 24th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.67%.

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 (Dx) and Biopharma Laboratory Services (BLS).