Brokerages Set Labcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LH) PT at $299.08

Shares of Labcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LH) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $299.0769.

A number of research firms have weighed in on LH. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Labcorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $304.00 price objective on shares of Labcorp in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Labcorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Labcorp from $291.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Labcorp from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd.

Labcorp Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:LH opened at $251.66 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $20.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.00. Labcorp has a 12-month low of $209.38 and a 12-month high of $293.72. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $259.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $266.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Labcorp (NYSE:LH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The medical research company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.13 by $0.05. Labcorp had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 6.21%.The company had revenue of $3.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.50 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Labcorp has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.150-16.500 EPS. Analysts predict that Labcorp will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Labcorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 26th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Labcorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Labcorp news, Director Richelle P. Parham sold 7,009 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.28, for a total value of $1,782,248.52. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $627,817.32. The trade was a 73.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 5,745 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.75, for a total transaction of $1,509,498.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 87,574 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,010,068.50. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Labcorp

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Labcorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $263,070,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Labcorp by 224.1% in the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 989,433 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $259,734,000 after acquiring an additional 684,153 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Labcorp by 39.1% during the first quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 2,220,056 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $516,696,000 after acquiring an additional 624,099 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Labcorp by 20.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 440,224 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Labcorp by 28.2% in the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,829,039 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $476,995,000 after purchasing an additional 401,808 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Labcorp Company 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.