Legal & General Group Plc Trims Holdings in Labcorp Holdings Inc. $LH

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its position in Labcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LH) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 673,232 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 16,349 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Labcorp were worth $168,900,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Labcorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in Labcorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Labcorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Labcorp by 48.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 122 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Labcorp by 300.0% in the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Labcorp in a report on Friday, May 8th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Labcorp in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Labcorp from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Robert W. Baird set a $334.00 price objective on shares of Labcorp in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Labcorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $308.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 8,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.96, for a total value of $2,437,051.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 80,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,613,209.08. This trade represents a 9.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 548 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.91, for a total value of $156,130.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $734,782.89. This represents a 17.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 15,156 shares of company stock valued at $4,095,496. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Labcorp Trading Down 0.1%

LH stock opened at $258.09 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $263.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $265.80. Labcorp Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $241.81 and a fifty-two week high of $293.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 1.73. The firm has a market cap of $21.16 billion, a PE ratio of 22.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.91.

Labcorp (NYSE:LH) last posted its 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 net margin of 6.66% and a return on equity of 16.29%. The firm had revenue of $3.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.84 earnings per share. Labcorp’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Labcorp has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.700-18.350 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Labcorp Holdings Inc. will post 17.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Labcorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Labcorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.51%.

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.