Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Shares Acquired by Marietta Wealth Management LLC

Marietta Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,832 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the quarter. Marietta Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $2,917,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,859,128 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,863,118,000 after acquiring an additional 106,063 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake 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 valued at $500,033,000 after purchasing an additional 424,684 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted 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 during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 28.0% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,212,497 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $444,821,000 after buying an additional 483,878 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,843,051 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $421,878,000 after buying an additional 26,197 shares during the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on LH. Argus raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 25th. TheStreet cut Laboratory Co. of America from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. SVB Leerink started coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays started coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $222.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Friday, February 9th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $240.00 price objective for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 237 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.45, for a total transaction of $53,668.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,729,398.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Laboratory Co. of America news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 259 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.06, for a total value of $57,513.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,695,872.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 directly owns 7,637 shares in the company, valued at $1,729,398.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,305 shares of company stock worth $11,761,059 in the last 90 days. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

Laboratory Co. of America stock traded up $1.07 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $204.39. The company had a trading volume of 235,719 shares, compared to its average volume of 730,571. The company has a 50 day moving average of $215.51 and a 200-day moving average of $214.79. The firm has a market cap of $17.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.55, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The medical research company reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.29 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.02 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 13.99% and a net margin of 3.24%. Laboratory Co. of America’s quarterly revenue was down 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.14 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 24th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.67%.

About Laboratory Co. of America

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).