We Locked in Two Modest Gains Today
By Paul Price of Market Shadows
Market Shadows took advantage of some goods news to take profits on two names from our Virtual Value Portfolio.
Both Lab Corp of America (LH) and Quest Diagnostics (DGX) got nice percentage boosts from the announcement that government payments for lab fees are unlikely to be cut over the next few years. Fear of reduced reimbursement rates had weighed on these names recently.
We sold 35 shares of LH @ $98.66 and 92 shares of DGX @ $58.00. That locked in small profits on both stocks. We had purchased two separate lots (54 shares + 38 shares) of Quest dating back to Mar. 7, 2013 and Dec. 13, 2013.
Those DGX trades netted 4.43% and 5.70% respectively, plus dividends. Our gain on Lab Corp was a bit better, coming in at 16.0% since we bought it on Oct. 26, 2012.
All three trades underperformed the broad market over the same periods. We are happy to exit and move this capital to more promising names. We are keeping some exposure to the industry group with our holding in Bio-Reference Labs (BRLI). For now, the proceeds will be used to bolster our cash reserves.
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