Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH - Free Report) by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,884 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,089 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned 0.07% of Laboratory Co. of America worth $12,712,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 99.3% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,178 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $476,000 after purchasing an additional 1,085 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 2.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 114,488 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $25,012,000 after buying an additional 2,934 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 13.7% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,433 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $690,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 10.4% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 6,341 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,385,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares during the period. Finally, Comerica Bank increased its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 2.8% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 47,384 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $10,352,000 after purchasing an additional 1,289 shares in the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

LH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $255.92.

View Our Latest Stock Report on Laboratory Co. of America

Shares of LH stock opened at $238.73 on Wednesday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $226.67 and its 200 day moving average is $217.61. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The company has a market cap of $19.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.18, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.05.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.02. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 15.27%. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.26 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.38 EPS. Laboratory Co. of America's revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. Laboratory Co. of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.71%.

In related news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $21,289,260.27. This trade represents a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.42, for a total transaction of $239,420.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,670 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $639,251.40. The trade was a 27.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 11,861 shares of company stock worth $2,853,533. Insiders own 0.85% of the company's stock.

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.

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