PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 9.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 38,915 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,433 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $8,697,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. SouthState Corp bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the third quarter worth $29,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the first quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the second quarter valued at $32,000. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on LH. Barclays raised their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Laboratory Co. of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $255.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $239.67 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.05 billion, a PE ratio of 46.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $226.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $216.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 12 month low of $191.97 and a 12 month high of $247.99.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.38 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.