New Century Financial Group LLC Purchases 175 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

New Century Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 7.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,495 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $545,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AMI Asset Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. AMI Asset Management Corp now owns 217,698 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $47,558,000 after purchasing an additional 6,340 shares during the period. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC raised its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,616 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 4,291 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $937,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Hudson Capital Management LLC now owns 15,821 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,456,000 after acquiring an additional 1,031 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,823 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,709,000 after acquiring an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Peter J. Wilkinson sold 2,439 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.33, for a total transaction of $498,360.87. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,087 shares in the company, valued at $426,436.71. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Laboratory Co. of America news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 250 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.13, for a total transaction of $51,032.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,972 shares in the company, valued at $3,260,364.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Peter J. Wilkinson sold 2,439 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.33, for a total transaction of $498,360.87. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $426,436.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,939 shares of company stock worth $1,021,078. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Argus upgraded 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 research note on Monday, March 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target 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. Truist Financial cut their price target 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. Robert W. Baird cut their price target 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. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $241.86.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LH traded up $1.13 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $203.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 408,054 shares, compared to its average volume of 597,219. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $202.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $212.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a market cap of $17.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.05. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 12-month low of $191.97 and a 12-month high of $234.09.

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

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th were given 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 payout ratio is currently 57.95%.

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).