First Trust Advisors LP Grows Position in Labcorp Holdings Inc. $LH

First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Labcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LH) by 12.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 217,402 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,605 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.27% of Labcorp worth $58,005,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LH. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Labcorp by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,850,631 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,471,326,000 after acquiring an additional 37,197 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Labcorp by 103.1% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,356,825 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,343,922,000 after acquiring an additional 2,719,475 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Labcorp by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,226,446 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $607,241,000 after acquiring an additional 22,170 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Labcorp by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,137,010 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $534,023,000 after acquiring an additional 13,775 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Labcorp by 15.9% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LH has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings raised Labcorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America lifted their target price on Labcorp from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Labcorp from $335.00 to $338.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Labcorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Labcorp in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $315.33.

Labcorp Price Performance

NYSE:LH opened at $296.71 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $269.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $269.09. The firm has a market cap of $24.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.28, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 1.73. Labcorp Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $244.52 and a one year high of $298.58.

Labcorp (NYSE:LH) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $3.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.51 billion. Labcorp had a return on equity of 16.29% and a net margin of 6.66%.The company’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.84 EPS. Labcorp has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.700-18.350 EPS. Research analysts expect that Labcorp Holdings Inc. will post 18 EPS for the current year.

Labcorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 11th. Investors of record on Friday, August 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 28th. Labcorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.51%.

Insider Activity at Labcorp

In other news, EVP Kathryn W. Kyle sold 762 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.89, for a total transaction of $201,084.18. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 3,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,006,212.57. This trade represents a 16.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Bryan T. Vaughn sold 234 shares of Labcorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.19, for a total transaction of $66,968.46. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 6,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,930,637.74. This trade represents a 3.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 6,991 shares of company stock worth $1,796,696. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.