Paralel Advisors LLC Has $2.13 Million Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Paralel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 25.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,449 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 2,104 shares during the quarter. Paralel Advisors LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $2,126,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the second quarter worth $37,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 313.2% in the first quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 219 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LH. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $213.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $261.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $250.82.

Insider Activity

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.05, for a total transaction of $454,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $833,273.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.05, for a total value of $454,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $833,273.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.99, for a total value of $3,359,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 31,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,008,423.11. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,679 shares of company stock worth $6,716,306 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:LH traded down $3.43 during trading on Friday, hitting $223.91. 488,233 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 688,116. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $218.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $211.10. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 52 week low of $191.97 and a 52 week high of $238.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market cap of $18.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.06.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.78 by $0.16. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 15.39%. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.42 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 29th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 29th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is 57.95%.

Laboratory Co. of America 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).