Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Trims Position in Labcorp Holdings Inc. $LH

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Labcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LH) by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 100,293 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,924 shares during the period. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC owned approximately 0.12% of Labcorp worth $28,082,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in LH. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Labcorp by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,226,446 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $607,241,000 after buying an additional 22,170 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Labcorp by 0.6% in 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 buying an additional 13,775 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Labcorp by 15.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,105,791 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $604,488,000 after buying an additional 289,029 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Labcorp in the fourth quarter worth about $480,271,000. 95.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Labcorp from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $352.00 price objective on Labcorp in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Labcorp from $300.00 to $309.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Labcorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Labcorp from $290.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Nine investment 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $330.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Labcorp

In related news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.02, for a total transaction of $954,060.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,087,165.26. This represents a 31.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Bryan T. Vaughn sold 234 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.19, for a total value of $66,968.46. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 6,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,930,637.74. This trade represents a 3.35% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,681 shares of company stock valued at $3,027,677. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Labcorp Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of LH opened at $333.61 on Tuesday. Labcorp Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $244.52 and a 52-week high of $341.80. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $301.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $279.31. The company has a market capitalization of $27.06 billion, a PE ratio of 27.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.87.

Labcorp (NYSE:LH) last posted 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 company had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.35 EPS. Labcorp’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Labcorp has set its FY 2026 guidance at 18.100-18.550 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Labcorp Holdings Inc. will post 18.32 EPS for the current year.

Labcorp Dividend Announcement

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