Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH – Get Rating) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,112 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,000.
A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LH. Adirondack Trust Co. bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. BDO Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 87.5% in the 3rd quarter. BDO Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 63.0% in the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 176 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Old North State Trust LLC bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 89.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of brokerages recently commented on LH. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $290.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 6th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $250.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $315.00 to $290.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $283.50.
Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 2.0 %
Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The medical research company reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.08. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 17.68% and a net margin of 8.60%. The company had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.77 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 17.18 EPS for the current year.
Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 23rd were issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 22nd. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.78%.
Insider Activity
In other news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 173 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.90, for a total value of $43,924.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,341 shares in the company, valued at $1,356,079.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 173 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.90, for a total value of $43,924.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,341 shares in the company, valued at $1,356,079.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 219 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.01, for a total value of $53,219.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,297,916.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,701 shares of company stock worth $2,178,302 over the last 90 days. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Laboratory Co. of America Company Profile
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.
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