Labcorp (NYSE:LH) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Labcorp (NYSE:LH) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Labcorp from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Truist Financial set a $320.00 target price on shares of Labcorp in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Labcorp from $325.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Labcorp in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $304.00 price target on Labcorp in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $297.07.

Labcorp Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LH opened at $259.43 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50-day moving average of $269.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $265.86. Labcorp has a fifty-two week low of $209.38 and a fifty-two week high of $293.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.35.

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

Labcorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 26th. Labcorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 5,745 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.75, for a total value of $1,509,498.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 87,574 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,010,068.50. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richelle P. Parham sold 7,009 shares of Labcorp stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.28, for a total transaction of $1,782,248.52. Following the sale, the director owned 2,469 shares in the company, valued at $627,817.32. This represents a 73.95% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Labcorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LH. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Labcorp by 7.7% during the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 158,231 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $41,537,000 after buying an additional 11,262 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Labcorp by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,331 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $9,012,000 after acquiring an additional 1,043 shares in the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc grew its position in Labcorp by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 74,621 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $19,589,000 after acquiring an additional 3,599 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its holdings in Labcorp by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 3,057 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $802,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS raised its position in Labcorp by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 38,135 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,011,000 after purchasing an additional 2,884 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

About Labcorp

Labcorp Holdings, Inc engages in providing medical testing services. The company was founded on April 16, 2024 and is headquartered in Burlington, NC.