2,921 Shares in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Bought by Connecticut Wealth Management LLC

Connecticut Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,921 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $664,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,487,106 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $500,033,000 after buying an additional 424,684 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 102.6% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,219,291 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $446,189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123,755 shares in 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 valued at $444,821,000 after purchasing an additional 483,878 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $257,522,000 after purchasing an additional 1,108,776 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,129,759 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $227,138,000 after buying an additional 126,602 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Peter J. Wilkinson sold 2,439 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.33, for a total value of $498,360.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,087 shares in the company, valued at approximately $426,436.71. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Peter J. Wilkinson sold 2,439 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.33, for a total value of $498,360.87. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $426,436.71. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 34,504 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.97, for a total transaction of $7,451,828.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,095,812.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 57,244 shares of company stock worth $12,360,478. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on LH. SVB Leerink assumed coverage on 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. TheStreet cut shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. 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 report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Monday, February 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.14.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of LH stock traded up $1.07 on Friday, hitting $201.32. The company had a trading volume of 555,654 shares, compared to its average volume of 854,788. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a twelve month low of $174.20 and a twelve month high of $234.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $16.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $210.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $214.87.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical research company reported $3.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.12 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 3.52%. Laboratory Co. of America’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 28th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is 57.95%.

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).