Labcorp (NYSE:LH) Reaches New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Labcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LH)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday after HSBC upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. HSBC now has a $410.00 price target on the stock. Labcorp traded as high as $373.34 and last traded at $369.02, with a volume of 28,099 shares. The stock had previously closed at $367.79.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on LH. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $355.00 price target on shares of Labcorp in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Labcorp from $361.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Mizuho set a $355.00 target price on Labcorp in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Labcorp from $365.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Labcorp from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $369.08.

Insider Activity at Labcorp

In related news, Director Richelle P. Parham sold 1,078 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.22, for a total value of $389,395.16. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $826,471.36. This represents a 32.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Bryan T. Vaughn sold 306 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.70, for a total transaction of $108,232.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 6,845 shares in the company, valued at $2,421,076.50. This trade represents a 4.28% 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. Insiders sold a total of 9,053 shares of company stock worth $2,947,495 over the last three months. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Labcorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LH. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Labcorp by 1.0% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,226,446 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $607,241,000 after purchasing an additional 22,170 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Labcorp by 2.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,332,775 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $355,569,000 after purchasing an additional 28,584 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Labcorp by 19.4% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 820,442 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $218,901,000 after buying an additional 133,549 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor bought a new stake in Labcorp in the second quarter valued at about $168,222,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Labcorp by 47.3% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 579,036 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $154,493,000 after buying an additional 185,847 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Labcorp Price Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $324.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $289.07. The stock has a market cap of $29.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.20, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Labcorp (NYSE:LH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The medical research company reported $4.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.64 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $3.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.76 billion. Labcorp had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 6.88%. Labcorp’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.18 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Labcorp Holdings Inc. will post 18.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Labcorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 24th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 24th. Labcorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.63%.

About Labcorp

Labcorp (NYSE: LH), formally Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, is a global life sciences and healthcare company headquartered in Burlington, North Carolina. The company provides laboratory testing and diagnostic services to physicians, hospitals, health systems, employers, insurers and consumers.

Through its diagnostics operations, Labcorp offers routine and specialty testing, oncology diagnostics, women’s health testing, genetic testing, pathology services and other laboratory services.