Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires New Shares in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Sep 16th, 2023

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH – Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 2,868 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $658,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LH. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 532.2% in the fourth 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. Norges Bank bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the fourth quarter worth about $219,236,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 5,366.9% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 725,243 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $170,780,000 after purchasing an additional 711,977 shares in the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the first quarter worth about $137,652,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 4.2% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 11,960,111 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,743,888,000 after purchasing an additional 485,342 shares in the last quarter. 89.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 212 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total value of $50,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,825,200. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Laboratory Co. of America news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.57, for a total value of $1,057,850.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 15,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,231,731.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 212 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total value of $50,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,825,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.65% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on LH. HSBC began coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Wednesday, September 6th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. Credit Suisse Group reduced their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $247.41 to $231.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $285.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Sunday, September 10th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $247.11.

View Our Latest Analysis on Laboratory Co. of America

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LH opened at $201.67 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $212.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $220.70. The firm has a market cap of $17.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.76 and a beta of 1.08. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 52 week low of $166.93 and a 52 week high of $222.33. The company has a quick ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The medical research company reported $3.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.77 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 5.89% and a return on equity of 14.62%. Laboratory Co. of America’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.96 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 13.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 8th were given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 7th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.07%.

About Laboratory Co. of America

(Free Report)

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.