Labcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LH) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Labcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LH) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $330.00.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LH. Robert W. Baird set a $352.00 price objective on Labcorp in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Labcorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Labcorp from $290.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Labcorp from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Labcorp from $300.00 to $309.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Kathryn W. Kyle sold 92 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.19, for a total value of $26,329.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,117,285.76. The trade was a 2.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.02, for a total value of $954,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,563 shares in the company, valued at $2,087,165.26. The trade was a 31.37% 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. Insiders sold 8,919 shares of company stock valued at $2,826,593 in the last 90 days. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in shares of Labcorp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $991,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Labcorp by 7.9% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 2,427 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $565,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Labcorp by 52.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 353,843 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $82,353,000 after buying an additional 121,304 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in Labcorp in the second quarter valued at $5,873,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Labcorp by 83.2% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 86,046 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $22,588,000 after buying an additional 39,087 shares in the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Labcorp Price Performance

Shares of LH opened at $307.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 1.53. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $309.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $281.74. Labcorp has a 1-year low of $244.52 and a 1-year high of $341.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.96 billion, a PE ratio of 25.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.88.

Labcorp (NYSE:LH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The medical research company reported $4.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.78 by $0.21. Labcorp had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 6.99%.The company had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.35 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Labcorp has set its FY 2026 guidance at 18.100-18.550 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Labcorp will post 18.32 EPS for the current year.

Labcorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 11th. Investors of record on Friday, August 28th will be given 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 currently 23.82%.

About Labcorp

Labcorp (NYSE: LH), formerly Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, is a global life sciences and laboratory services company headquartered in Burlington, North Carolina. The company provides diagnostic testing and related services to physicians, hospitals, health systems, employers, government agencies and consumers.

Its diagnostics business offers routine and specialty laboratory testing, including molecular, genetic, oncology, women’s health, infectious disease and pathology services.