Labcorp (NYSE:LH) Reaches New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Labcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LH) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday after HSBC upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. HSBC now has a $410.00 price target on the stock. Labcorp traded as high as $373.34 and last traded at $369.02, with a volume of 28,099 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $367.79.

LH has been the topic of several other reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Labcorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Labcorp from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $388.00 price target on shares of Labcorp in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Leerink Partners set a $410.00 price objective on shares of Labcorp in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Labcorp from $330.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Labcorp currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $369.08.

Insider Activity

In other Labcorp news, Director Richelle Parham sold 1,078 shares of Labcorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.22, for a total value of $389,395.16. Following the sale, the director owned 2,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $826,471.36. The trade was a 32.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan Vaughn sold 306 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.70, for a total value of $108,232.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 6,845 shares in the company, valued at $2,421,076.50. The trade was a 4.28% 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. Insiders have sold 9,053 shares of company stock worth $2,947,495 in the last three months. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allied Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Labcorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Labcorp by 786.7% in the first quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 133 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. William Mack & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Labcorp in the third quarter worth approximately $42,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Labcorp in the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new stake in Labcorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Labcorp Trading Up 0.1%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The business’s fifty day moving average is $324.51 and its 200-day moving average is $289.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.89 billion, a PE ratio of 30.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.86.

Labcorp (NYSE:LH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The medical research company reported $4.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.64 by $0.14. Labcorp had a net margin of 6.88% and a return on equity of 17.13%. The company had revenue of $3.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.18 earnings per share. Labcorp’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Labcorp Holdings Inc. will post 18.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Labcorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 24th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Labcorp’s payout ratio is presently 23.63%.

Labcorp Company Profile

Labcorp (NYSE: LH), formally Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, is a global life sciences and healthcare company headquartered in Burlington, North Carolina. The company provides laboratory testing and diagnostic services to physicians, hospitals, health systems, employers, insurers and consumers.

Through its diagnostics operations, Labcorp offers routine and specialty testing, oncology diagnostics, women’s health testing, genetic testing, pathology services and other laboratory services.