Labcorp (NYSE:LH) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Labcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LH)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $374.50 and last traded at $373.6820, with a volume of 2,247 shares. The stock had previously closed at $372.23.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on LH shares. Mizuho set a $355.00 price objective on shares of Labcorp in a report on Monday, August 10th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $388.00 target price on shares of Labcorp in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings raised Labcorp from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Leerink Partners set a $410.00 target price on Labcorp in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Labcorp from $365.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $369.08.

Labcorp Stock Up 0.1%

The stock has a market capitalization of $30.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.58, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $328.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $291.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

Labcorp (NYSE:LH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The medical research company reported $4.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.64 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $3.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.76 billion. Labcorp had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 6.88%. Labcorp’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.18 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Labcorp Holdings Inc. will post 18.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Labcorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 24th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 24th. Labcorp’s payout ratio is 23.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Brian J. Caveney sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $372.04, for a total value of $744,080.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 34,562 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,858,446.48. This trade represents a 5.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bryan T. Vaughn sold 306 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.70, for a total transaction of $108,232.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 6,845 shares in the company, valued at $2,421,076.50. This represents a 4.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 6,384 shares of company stock worth $2,195,767. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Labcorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Labcorp during the third quarter valued at about $2,806,000. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Labcorp by 7.2% during the third quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 15,041 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,634,000 after purchasing an additional 1,016 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Labcorp by 11.1% during the third quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 1,073 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Alpha Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Labcorp during the third quarter worth about $219,000. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance grew its stake in shares of Labcorp by 24.9% in the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 14,721 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,590,000 after purchasing an additional 2,936 shares during the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Labcorp

Labcorp (NYSE: LH), formally Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, is a global life sciences company that provides diagnostic testing and services to patients, physicians, hospitals, employers and other health care organizations. Its offerings include routine and specialty laboratory tests, anatomic pathology and genetic testing. The company also supports pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies with laboratory services for drug development and clinical trials, including testing and analysis used in research and clinical studies.