Disciplined Equity Management Inc. Takes $68,000 Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Disciplined Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 300 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LH. Mendota Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Provence Wealth Management Group acquired a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the fourth quarter worth $60,000. 95.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research report on Friday, February 9th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $240.00 target price for the company. Barclays initiated coverage on Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $222.00 price target for the company. TheStreet downgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Argus raised Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, SVB Leerink initiated coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Monday, February 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.50.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 237 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.45, for a total transaction of $53,668.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,637 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,729,398.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 237 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.45, for a total value of $53,668.65. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,637 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,729,398.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 259 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.06, for a total transaction of $57,513.54. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,695,872.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 54,305 shares of company stock worth $11,761,059. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock traded down $0.03 on Wednesday, hitting $207.94. 793,521 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 739,542. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $212.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $214.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 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.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released 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. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 13.99% and a net margin of 3.24%. The company had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 24th. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is presently 61.67%.

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).