Bank of Montreal Can Purchases 4,439 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 149,191 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 4,439 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.18% of Laboratory Co. of America worth $33,135,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of 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. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 115.7% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,088 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,361,000 after purchasing an additional 3,265 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the second quarter valued at approximately $473,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 13.8% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 187,286 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $40,259,000 after purchasing an additional 22,759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 35.4% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 31,435 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,397,000 after purchasing an additional 8,218 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LH has been the subject of several research reports. 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $250.00 to $240.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Laboratory Co. of America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $255.92.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were 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 directly owns 87,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,289,260.27. The trade was 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 worth $2,853,533 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of LH stock opened at $242.15 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.84, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.05. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a one year low of $191.97 and a one year high of $247.99. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $227.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $217.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.30.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.38 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is 55.71%.

Laboratory Co. of America Company 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.