Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH – Get Rating) shares reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $212.40 and last traded at $213.86, with a volume of 921217 shares. The stock had previously closed at $216.47.
Several research firms recently commented on LH. Credit Suisse Group cut their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $344.00 to $312.00 in a report on Monday, May 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $294.00 to $265.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $290.00 to $235.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 25th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $350.00 to $320.00 in a report on Friday, April 29th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $354.00 to $323.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $297.72.
The company has a market capitalization of $19.82 billion, a PE ratio of 9.81 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $251.20 and its 200-day moving average is $270.06.
Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 28th. The medical research company reported $6.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.88 by $0.23. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 23.84% and a net margin of 13.24%. The business had revenue of $3.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $8.79 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 19.8 EPS for the current year.
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is 13.22%.
In other news, EVP Mark S. Schroeder sold 2,356 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.11, for a total value of $652,871.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director R Sanders Williams sold 572 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.98, for a total value of $156,144.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.
A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LH. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the 3rd quarter valued at about $306,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the 3rd quarter valued at about $98,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 24.7% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 35,059 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,868,000 after purchasing an additional 6,943 shares during the period. NorthCoast Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. NorthCoast Asset Management LLC now owns 2,279 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $642,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC increased its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 8,797 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,476,000 after purchasing an additional 876 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.02% of the company’s stock.
About Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH)
Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings operates as an independent clinical laboratory company worldwide. It operates in two segments, Labcorp Diagnostics (Dx) and Labcorp Drug Development (DD). It offers various tests, such as blood chemistry analyses, urinalyses, blood cell counts, thyroid tests, Pap tests, hemoglobin A1C and vitamin D products, prostate-specific antigens, tests for sexually transmitted diseases, hepatitis C tests, microbiology cultures and procedures, and alcohol and other substance-abuse tests.
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