Royal Bank of Canada Acquires 133,549 Shares of Labcorp Holdings Inc. $LH

Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Labcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LH) by 19.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 820,442 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 133,549 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned 1.00% of Labcorp worth $218,901,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LH. REAP Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Labcorp by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 218 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in Labcorp by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,418 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $645,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Labcorp by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 1,631 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $409,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Labcorp by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 1,126 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Labcorp by 37.5% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 154 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kathryn W. Kyle sold 92 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.19, for a total transaction of $26,329.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 3,904 shares in the company, valued at $1,117,285.76. This trade represents a 2.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 5,903 shares of Labcorp stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.50, for a total value of $1,502,313.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 107,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,291,053. This represents a 5.22% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 6,991 shares of company stock valued at $1,796,696. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Labcorp Price Performance

Shares of LH opened at $307.07 on Thursday. Labcorp Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $244.52 and a fifty-two week high of $315.77. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $272.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $270.29. The stock has a market cap of $25.18 billion, a PE ratio of 27.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 1.73.

Labcorp (NYSE:LH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The medical research company reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.09 by $0.16. Labcorp had a net margin of 6.66% and a return on equity of 16.29%. The firm had revenue of $3.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.51 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Labcorp Holdings Inc. will post 18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Labcorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 28th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Labcorp’s payout ratio is presently 25.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on LH shares. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Labcorp from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Labcorp in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Labcorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Labcorp from $335.00 to $338.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Labcorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Labcorp has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $315.33.

Labcorp Profile

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.