Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Shares Acquired by Cardinal Capital Management

Cardinal Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 9.7% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 33,552 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 2,969 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $7,330,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 102.6% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,219,291 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $446,189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123,755 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 28.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 4th quarter valued at about $291,045,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,163,252 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $264,396,000 after purchasing an additional 33,493 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LH shares. Argus upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $244.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $270.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $261.00 to $243.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $241.86.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock traded up $1.66 on Thursday, hitting $204.90. The company had a trading volume of 464,390 shares, compared to its average volume of 746,076. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $202.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $213.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a market cap of $17.27 billion, a PE ratio of 41.14, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.04. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 52 week low of $191.97 and a 52 week high of $234.09.

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

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.95%.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In related news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.83, for a total transaction of $421,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,188,448.71. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.10, for a total value of $50,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 15,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,145,972.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.83, for a total transaction of $421,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,188,448.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,916 shares of company stock valued at $3,188,981 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

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).