Persistent Asset Partners Ltd Has $2.58 Million Position in Labcorp Holdings Inc. $LH

Persistent Asset Partners Ltd grew its stake in shares of Labcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LH) by 90.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,994 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,260 shares during the period. Labcorp comprises about 1.8% of Persistent Asset Partners Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd’s holdings in Labcorp were worth $2,582,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Labcorp by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 158,231 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $41,537,000 after purchasing an additional 11,262 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Labcorp by 224.1% during the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 989,433 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $259,734,000 after buying an additional 684,153 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Labcorp by 3.1% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,331 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,012,000 after acquiring an additional 1,043 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Labcorp by 12.0% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 44,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $12,859,000 after purchasing an additional 4,800 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance raised its holdings in shares of Labcorp by 166.6% in the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 12,111 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,477,000 after acquiring an additional 7,568 shares in the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on LH. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Labcorp in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Labcorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Wall Street Zen raised Labcorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Labcorp from $325.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Labcorp from $313.00 to $326.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Labcorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $302.75.

Labcorp Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of LH opened at $282.26 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $23.40 billion, a PE ratio of 26.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.03. Labcorp Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $209.38 and a 52-week high of $293.72. The business has a fifty day moving average of $265.13 and a 200 day moving average of $269.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

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

Labcorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. Labcorp’s payout ratio is currently 28.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Labcorp

In other news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 5,273 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.38, for a total transaction of $1,499,535.74. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 87,343 shares in the company, valued at $24,838,602.34. This represents a 5.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jonathan C. Meltzer sold 87 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.42, for a total transaction of $25,266.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $807,948.44. This represents a 3.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.