Der Vaart Sandra Van Sells 548 Shares of Labcorp (NYSE:LH) Stock

Labcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LH) EVP Der Vaart Sandra Van sold 548 shares of Labcorp 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $734,782.89. This represents a 17.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Labcorp Stock Down 0.8%

LH opened at $280.85 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.14 billion, a PE ratio of 26.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $270.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $270.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Labcorp Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $209.38 and a 52 week high of $293.72.

Labcorp (NYSE:LH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The medical research company reported $4.07 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 company had revenue of $3.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Labcorp has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.550-18.250 EPS. Analysts forecast that Labcorp Holdings Inc. will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Labcorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. Labcorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.53%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Labcorp

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Labcorp by 1.6% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,879,225 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,593,395,000 after acquiring an additional 156,717 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew 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 worth $1,343,922,000 after purchasing an additional 2,719,475 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Labcorp by 0.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,863,039 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,014,086,000 after purchasing an additional 36,003 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Labcorp by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,204,276 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $554,728,000 after purchasing an additional 207,962 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised 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 valued at $534,023,000 after purchasing an additional 13,775 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on LH shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Labcorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Labcorp from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock 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. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Labcorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Labcorp in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $304.82.

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.