Sterling Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Labcorp Holdings Inc. $LH

Sterling Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Labcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LH) by 41.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,055 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,159 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Labcorp were worth $815,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LH. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in Labcorp in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Labcorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Labcorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Labcorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC bought a new position in shares of Labcorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on LH shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Labcorp in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Labcorp in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered Labcorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $334.00 price objective on Labcorp in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $308.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kathryn W. Kyle sold 762 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.89, for a total value of $201,084.18. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 3,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,006,212.57. This represents a 16.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 5,903 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.50, for a total value of $1,502,313.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 107,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,291,053. This trade represents a 5.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Labcorp Stock Up 1.6%

NYSE:LH opened at $284.38 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $261.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $265.94. Labcorp Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $241.81 and a 1-year high of $293.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.19, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.90.

Labcorp (NYSE:LH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The medical research company reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $3.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.84 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Labcorp has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.700-18.350 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Labcorp Holdings Inc. will post 18 EPS for the current year.

Labcorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. Labcorp’s payout ratio is 25.51%.

Labcorp Company 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.