Greenleaf Trust Raises Holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Greenleaf Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,652 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 93 shares during the quarter. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $603,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LH. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 20.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,487,106 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $500,033,000 after purchasing an additional 424,684 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 102.6% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,219,291 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $446,189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123,755 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 28.0% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,212,497 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $444,821,000 after purchasing an additional 483,878 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 644.2% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,280,884 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $257,522,000 after purchasing an additional 1,108,776 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 12.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,129,759 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $227,138,000 after purchasing an additional 126,602 shares during the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on LH shares. SVB Leerink started coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Monday, February 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. Leerink Partnrs reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $222.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Friday, February 9th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $240.00 price objective for the company. Finally, TheStreet downgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.50.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE LH opened at $203.07 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $213.25 and a 200 day moving average of $214.81. The company has a market capitalization of $17.08 billion, a PE ratio of 43.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.01. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1 year low of $174.20 and a 1 year high of $234.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The medical research company reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.29 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.02 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.24% and a return on equity of 13.99%. The company’s revenue was down 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.14 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 24th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 34,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.97, for a total value of $7,451,828.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 23,595 shares in the company, valued at $5,095,812.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 34,504 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.97, for a total transaction of $7,451,828.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 23,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,095,812.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Mark S. Schroeder sold 6,477 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.29, for a total transaction of $1,407,387.33. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,094,272.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 54,305 shares of company stock worth $11,761,059. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

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).