MetLife Investment Management LLC Has $4.88 Million Stock Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

MetLife Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 21,834 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 644 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $4,879,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.5% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,978,686 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $442,197,000 after purchasing an additional 29,046 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,865,460 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $416,893,000 after acquiring an additional 263,105 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 135.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,609,826 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $327,616,000 after acquiring an additional 924,881 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,586,397 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $354,528,000 after acquiring an additional 230,708 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 2.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,417,645 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $288,519,000 after purchasing an additional 33,497 shares during the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $250.00 to $240.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $255.92.

Insider Transactions at Laboratory Co. of America

In related news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total value of $1,506,835.83. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 87,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,289,260.27. This trade represents a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $230,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,156,060. This trade represents a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,861 shares of company stock valued at $2,853,533 in the last three months. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 0.4 %

LH stock opened at $241.16 on Monday. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1-year low of $191.97 and a 1-year high of $247.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The business’s 50 day moving average is $227.70 and its 200-day moving average is $218.25. The firm has a market cap of $20.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.05.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 15.27%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.38 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.53 earnings per share 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, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.71%.

Laboratory Co. of America Profile

Labcorp Holdings Inc provides laboratory services. It operates through two segments, Diagnostics Laboratories and Biopharma Laboratory Services. The company offers various tests, such as blood chemistry analyses, urinalyses, blood cell counts, thyroid, PAP, hemoglobin A1C and vitamin D, prostate-specific antigens, sexually transmitted diseases, hepatitis C, microbiology cultures and procedures, and alcohol and other substance-abuse tests.