Legal & General Group Plc Raises Position in Labcorp Holdings Inc. $LH

Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Labcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LH) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 689,581 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,423 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Labcorp were worth $197,951,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Labcorp by 1.6% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,879,225 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,593,395,000 after acquiring an additional 156,717 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Labcorp by 0.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,863,039 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,014,086,000 after acquiring an additional 36,003 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Labcorp by 20.0% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,637,350 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $756,878,000 after acquiring an additional 440,224 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Labcorp by 2.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,113,460 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $552,445,000 after acquiring an additional 44,630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Labcorp by 3.5% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,303,307 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $342,131,000 after purchasing an additional 43,661 shares in the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 548 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.91, for a total transaction of $156,130.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $734,782.89. This trade represents a 17.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 8,705 shares of Labcorp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.96, for a total transaction of $2,437,051.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 80,773 shares in the company, valued at $22,613,209.08. This trade represents a 9.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 16,113 shares of company stock worth $4,547,450. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Labcorp from $313.00 to $326.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Labcorp from $319.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Labcorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Labcorp from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Labcorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Labcorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $304.82.

Labcorp Price Performance

NYSE:LH opened at $262.67 on Friday. Labcorp Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $209.38 and a one year high of $293.72. The stock has a market cap of $21.64 billion, a PE ratio of 25.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $272.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $270.06.

Labcorp (NYSE:LH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The medical research company reported $4.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.95 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $3.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.56 billion. Labcorp had a return on equity of 16.16% and a net margin of 6.28%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.45 earnings per share. Labcorp has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.550-18.250 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Labcorp Holdings Inc. will post 16.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Labcorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Labcorp’s payout ratio is presently 27.53%.

About Labcorp

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, commonly known as Labcorp (NYSE: LH), is a global life sciences company that provides comprehensive clinical laboratory and drug development services. The company operates a broad network of laboratories, patient service centers and specialty testing sites to deliver diagnostic information and testing solutions that support patient care, clinical decision-making and population health initiatives.

Labcorp’s core businesses encompass clinical laboratory testing and pharmaceutical development services.