Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Given New $244.00 Price Target at Robert W. Baird

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) had its target price cut by Robert W. Baird from $255.00 to $244.00 in a research report report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the medical research company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI began coverage on Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Friday, February 9th. They issued an in-line rating and a $240.00 price objective for the company. Argus raised Laboratory Co. of America from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $250.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, March 25th. SVB Leerink began coverage on Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Monday, February 26th. They issued an outperform rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. TheStreet lowered Laboratory Co. of America from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs reissued an outperform rating on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Monday, February 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Laboratory Co. of America has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $243.14.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LH opened at $198.40 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Laboratory Co. of America has a twelve month low of $174.20 and a twelve month high of $234.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $211.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $214.66. The stock has a market cap of $16.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.01.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The medical research company reported $3.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.46 by $0.22. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 3.52%. The company had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 24th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is 57.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, CMO Amy B. Summy sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.29, for a total transaction of $760,515.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 3,975 shares in the company, valued at $863,727.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CMO Amy B. Summy sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.29, for a total value of $760,515.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 3,975 shares in the company, valued at $863,727.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 237 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.45, for a total value of $53,668.65. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,637 shares in the company, valued at $1,729,398.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 54,305 shares of company stock worth $11,761,059. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Laboratory Co. of America

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 20.6% during the third 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 period. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 1,123,755 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 28.0% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,212,497 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $444,821,000 after buying an additional 483,878 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 58.8% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,613,854 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $352,563,000 after buying an additional 597,571 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 644.2% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,280,884 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $257,522,000 after buying an additional 1,108,776 shares during the period. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Laboratory Co. of America Company 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).