Labcorp (NYSE:LH) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Labcorp (NYSE:LH) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Saturday.

LH has been the subject of several other research reports. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Labcorp from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Labcorp from $319.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Labcorp from $313.00 to $326.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Labcorp in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Labcorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Labcorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $307.70.

Labcorp Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of LH stock opened at $274.16 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.02. Labcorp has a twelve month low of $209.38 and a twelve month high of $293.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $274.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $268.97.

Labcorp (NYSE:LH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The medical research company reported $4.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.95 by $0.12. Labcorp had a return on equity of 16.16% and a net margin of 6.28%.The business had revenue of $3.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.45 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Labcorp has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.550-18.250 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Labcorp will post 16.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Labcorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Labcorp’s payout ratio is 27.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 548 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.91, for a total transaction of $156,130.68. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,579 shares in the company, valued at $734,782.89. The trade was a 17.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 8,705 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.96, for a total transaction of $2,437,051.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 80,773 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,613,209.08. This represents a 9.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 16,113 shares of company stock valued at $4,547,450 over the last 90 days. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Labcorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LH. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 37,197 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Labcorp by 103.1% during 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 buying an additional 2,719,475 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Labcorp by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,863,039 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,014,086,000 after buying an additional 36,003 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Labcorp by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,204,276 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $554,728,000 after acquiring an additional 207,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Labcorp by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,137,010 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $534,023,000 after acquiring an additional 13,775 shares in the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.