Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Shares Bought by CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 18.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 150,046 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,860 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $32,802,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northern Trust Corp lifted 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 during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 101,019 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $22,069,000 after purchasing an additional 14,708 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 1,715.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 175,176 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $39,814,000 after acquiring an additional 165,528 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 283.1% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,217 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,072,000 after acquiring an additional 17,156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services acquired a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the 1st quarter worth about $1,418,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.10, for a total transaction of $50,025.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,722 shares in the company, valued at $3,145,972.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, 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 stock was sold at an average price of $210.83, for a total transaction of $421,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.10, for a total value of $50,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,145,972.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,939 shares of company stock worth $1,021,078. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $258.00 to $261.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $261.00 to $243.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $241.29.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

NYSE LH traded up $2.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $211.52. The stock had a trading volume of 159,465 shares, compared to its average volume of 713,839. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 52-week low of $191.97 and a 52-week high of $234.09. The company has a market cap of $17.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $203.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $210.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released 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 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 was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.82 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 29th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.36%. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is currently 57.95%.

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).