Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Increases Stake in Labcorp Holdings Inc. $LH

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in shares of Labcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LH) by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 109,674 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 1,842 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned about 0.13% of Labcorp worth $30,709,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tema ETFs LLC increased its stake in Labcorp by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 1,907 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $534,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in shares of Labcorp by 4.8% in the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 28,208 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,898,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Labcorp by 8.1% in the second quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 2,500 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $700,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Allied Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Labcorp in the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Labcorp by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 23,340 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,535,000 after buying an additional 763 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on LH. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $306.00 price objective on shares of Labcorp in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Labcorp from $308.00 to $338.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird set a $352.00 price target on Labcorp in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Labcorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Labcorp from $290.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $330.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 6,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,930,637.74. This trade represents a 3.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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. Also, EVP Kathryn W. Kyle sold 762 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.89, for a total value of $201,084.18. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 3,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,006,212.57. The trade was a 16.66% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders sold a total of 2,012 shares of company stock worth $577,810 in the last three months. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Labcorp Stock Performance

Shares of LH opened at $322.62 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 1.53. Labcorp Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $244.52 and a one year high of $323.97. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $282.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $273.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.16 billion, a PE ratio of 26.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.87.

Labcorp (NYSE:LH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The medical research company reported $4.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.78 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. Labcorp had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 6.99%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.35 EPS. Labcorp has set its FY 2026 guidance at 18.100-18.550 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Labcorp Holdings Inc. will post 18.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Labcorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 28th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 28th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Labcorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.82%.

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.