Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Lowers Stake in Labcorp Holdings Inc. $LH

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in Labcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LH) by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 10,224 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,230 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Labcorp were worth $2,935,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Labcorp by 7.7% in the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 158,231 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $41,537,000 after purchasing an additional 11,262 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Labcorp by 224.1% in the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 989,433 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $259,734,000 after buying an additional 684,153 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Labcorp by 3.1% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,331 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $9,012,000 after buying an additional 1,043 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Labcorp by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 44,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $12,859,000 after buying an additional 4,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Labcorp by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 38,620 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,025,000 after buying an additional 4,690 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $313.00 price objective on shares of Labcorp in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Labcorp from $317.00 to $319.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Labcorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Labcorp from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Labcorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Labcorp presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $300.75.

Labcorp Stock Performance

Labcorp stock opened at $289.95 on Thursday. Labcorp Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $209.38 and a fifty-two week high of $293.72. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $262.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $268.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.55. The stock has a market cap of $24.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.48, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.03.

Labcorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Labcorp’s payout ratio is currently 28.29%.

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.