Great Lakes Advisors LLC Takes $5.85 Million Position in Labcorp Holdings Inc. $LH

Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Labcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LH) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 20,883 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,847,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS Group AG raised its position in Labcorp by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 495,535 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $124,320,000 after purchasing an additional 10,706 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Labcorp by 106.5% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 57,981 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $15,470,000 after purchasing an additional 29,899 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Labcorp by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,137,010 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $534,023,000 after purchasing an additional 13,775 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Labcorp by 61.3% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 19,974 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,011,000 after purchasing an additional 7,592 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Labcorp by 103.1% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,356,825 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,343,922,000 after purchasing an additional 2,719,475 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Labcorp Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of Labcorp stock opened at $330.77 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $26.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.36, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 1.80. Labcorp Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $244.52 and a one year high of $331.20. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $289.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $275.91.

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

Labcorp Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Amy B. Summy sold 924 shares of Labcorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.74, for a total value of $283,427.76. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,956 shares in the company, valued at $2,133,683.44. The trade was a 11.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.02, for a total value of $954,060.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,563 shares in the company, valued at $2,087,165.26. This represents a 31.37% decrease in their position. 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 have sold 9,681 shares of company stock worth $3,027,677 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $352.00 target price on shares of Labcorp in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Labcorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Labcorp from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Bank of America increased their price objective on Labcorp from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Labcorp from $300.00 to $309.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $330.00.

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.