Russell Investments Group Ltd. Acquires 18,227 Shares of Labcorp Holdings Inc. $LH

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Labcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LH) by 27.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 85,563 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,227 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Labcorp were worth $24,523,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Labcorp by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 916 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Labcorp by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,017 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Labcorp by 48.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 122 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. raised its holdings in Labcorp by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Burney Co. now owns 8,819 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,532,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Advisor OS LLC raised its holdings in Labcorp by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 821 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Labcorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Labcorp in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Labcorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Labcorp from $313.00 to $326.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Labcorp from $319.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $304.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 8,705 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 80,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,613,209.08. This represents a 9.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jonathan C. Meltzer sold 87 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.42, for a total value of $25,266.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $807,948.44. This represents a 3.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 16,113 shares of company stock worth $4,547,450. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Labcorp Stock Performance

Shares of LH opened at $262.67 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.11, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.01. Labcorp Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $209.38 and a 12 month high of $293.72. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $272.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $270.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

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

Labcorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th were given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Labcorp’s payout ratio is currently 27.53%.

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.