Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC Has $2.03 Million Stock Holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 34.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,103 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 4,835 shares during the quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $2,034,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 135.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,609,826 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $327,616,000 after purchasing an additional 924,881 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 25.4% during the second quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,949,640 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $396,771,000 after buying an additional 395,197 shares in the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter valued at about $73,928,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,865,460 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $416,893,000 after buying an additional 263,105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the 1st quarter worth approximately $45,567,000. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $238.23 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $19.93 billion, a PE ratio of 46.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.05. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1-year low of $191.97 and a 1-year high of $247.99. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $223.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $215.25.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.71%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.05, for a total value of $454,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $833,273.50. The trade was a 35.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $230,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,156,060. This trade represents a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,189 shares of company stock valued at $2,190,936. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on LH. StockNews.com lowered shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of 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. Bank of America raised their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $255.92.

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.