FORA Capital LLC Sells 11,548 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

FORA Capital LLC trimmed its position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 65.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,060 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 11,548 shares during the period. FORA Capital LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $1,354,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. SouthState Corp purchased a new stake in shares of 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 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of LH opened at $242.18 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $226.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $217.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.84, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.05. 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 1-year low of $191.97 and a 1-year high of $247.99.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 15.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.38 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.53 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is currently 55.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $230,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,156,060. The trade was a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of Laboratory Co. of America 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 87,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,289,260.27. This trade represents a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,861 shares of company stock valued at $2,853,533 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on LH shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group lifted 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 research report on Friday, August 2nd. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average 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.