Easterly Investment Partners LLC Takes Position in Labcorp Holdings Inc. $LH

Easterly Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Labcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LH) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 30,268 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,594,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Labcorp by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,850,631 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,471,326,000 after purchasing an additional 37,197 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Labcorp by 20.0% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,637,350 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $756,878,000 after purchasing an additional 440,224 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Labcorp by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,204,276 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $554,728,000 after purchasing an additional 207,962 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Labcorp by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,137,010 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $534,023,000 after purchasing an additional 13,775 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Labcorp by 15.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,105,791 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $604,488,000 after purchasing an additional 289,029 shares during the period. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Labcorp Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LH opened at $260.21 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $263.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $265.87. Labcorp Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $241.81 and a fifty-two week high of $293.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.54.

Labcorp (NYSE:LH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The medical research company reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by $0.16. Labcorp had a return on equity of 16.29% and a net margin of 6.66%.The firm had revenue of $3.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Labcorp has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.700-18.350 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Labcorp Holdings Inc. will post 17.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Labcorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th 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 is Friday, May 29th. Labcorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Labcorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Labcorp in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $334.00 price objective on Labcorp in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Labcorp in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Labcorp in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $308.00.

Insider Activity at Labcorp

In other news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 5,903 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.50, for a total transaction of $1,502,313.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 107,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,291,053. This represents a 5.22% 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 link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

About Labcorp

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.