Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Buys 52,871 Shares of Labcorp Holdings Inc. $LH

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Labcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LH) by 1,474.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 56,458 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 52,871 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Labcorp were worth $15,064,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. REAP Financial Group LLC grew its position in Labcorp by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 218 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc. increased its position in Labcorp by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 1,631 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $409,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Advisor OS LLC increased its position in Labcorp by 5.4% during the third quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 821 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $236,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its holdings in Labcorp by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 1,126 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Labcorp by 37.5% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 154 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LH has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Labcorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 13th. Robert W. Baird set a $334.00 price objective on shares of Labcorp in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Labcorp in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Labcorp in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $308.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Labcorp news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 5,903 shares of Labcorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.50, for a total transaction of $1,502,313.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 107,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,291,053. The trade was a 5.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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, 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 transaction of $201,084.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,006,212.57. The trade was a 16.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Labcorp Price Performance

Shares of Labcorp stock opened at $272.09 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $22.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.90. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $260.97 and its 200 day moving average is $265.49. Labcorp Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $241.81 and a one year high of $293.72.

Labcorp (NYSE:LH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The medical research company reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.09 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $3.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.51 billion. Labcorp had a return on equity of 16.29% and a net margin of 6.66%.Labcorp’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.84 earnings per share. Labcorp has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.700-18.350 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Labcorp Holdings Inc. will post 18 earnings per share for the current year.

Labcorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Labcorp’s payout ratio is 25.51%.

Labcorp 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.