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

Shares of Labcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LH) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $297.0714.

Several analysts have weighed in on LH shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Labcorp from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Labcorp in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Labcorp from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $304.00 price objective on Labcorp in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Labcorp from $291.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th.

Labcorp Stock Performance

LH opened at $261.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $269.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $265.40. Labcorp has a 1 year low of $209.38 and a 1 year high of $293.72. The company has a market capitalization of $21.67 billion, a PE ratio of 25.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Labcorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 26th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 26th. Labcorp’s payout ratio is 28.29%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Richelle P. Parham sold 7,009 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.28, for a total transaction of $1,782,248.52. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $627,817.32. This represents a 73.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 5,745 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.75, for a total transaction of $1,509,498.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 87,574 shares in the company, valued at $23,010,068.50. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Labcorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Labcorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $263,070,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Labcorp by 224.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 684,153 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Labcorp by 39.1% during the 1st quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 2,220,056 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $516,696,000 after acquiring an additional 624,099 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Labcorp by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,637,350 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $756,878,000 after acquiring an additional 440,224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Labcorp by 28.2% in the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,829,039 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $476,995,000 after purchasing an additional 401,808 shares in the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.