Weitz Investment Management Inc. Buys New Position in Labcorp Holdings Inc. $LH

Weitz Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Labcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LH) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 99,050 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,734,000. Labcorp accounts for about 1.9% of Weitz Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Weitz Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.12% of Labcorp as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in Labcorp by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 495,535 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $124,320,000 after purchasing an additional 10,706 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Labcorp by 106.5% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 57,981 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $15,470,000 after buying an additional 29,899 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 worth $534,023,000 after buying an additional 13,775 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Labcorp by 61.3% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 19,974 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,011,000 after buying an additional 7,592 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Labcorp by 103.1% during 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 buying an additional 2,719,475 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Labcorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $306.00 price objective on shares of Labcorp in a report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Labcorp from $308.00 to $338.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Labcorp from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Labcorp from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Nine 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 company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $330.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kathryn W. Kyle sold 92 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.19, for a total value of $26,329.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 3,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,117,285.76. The trade was a 2.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, EVP Bryan T. Vaughn sold 234 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.19, for a total transaction of $66,968.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 6,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,930,637.74. This represents a 3.35% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 9,681 shares of company stock worth $3,027,677 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Labcorp Stock Performance

Shares of LH opened at $336.03 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $292.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $276.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $27.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.87. Labcorp Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $244.52 and a 52-week high of $338.19.

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

Labcorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 11th. Investors of record on Friday, August 28th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 28th. Labcorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.82%.

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.