Ariel Investments LLC Has $85.71 Million Stake in Labcorp Holdings Inc. $LH

Key Points

• Ariel Investments LLC reduced its stake in Labcorp by 5.4%, holding 368,263 shares valued at approximately $85.71 million as of the first quarter.
• Labcorp received multiple analyst price target updates, with Truist Financial raising it from $290.00 to $310.00 and HSBC lowering it from a "buy" to a "hold" rating with a $260.00 target.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.72 per share, representing a yield of 1.1% and a payout ratio of 31.79%, payable on September 11th.

Ariel Investments LLC cut its stake in shares of Labcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LH - Free Report) by 5.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 368,263 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 20,876 shares during the quarter. Ariel Investments LLC owned approximately 0.44% of Labcorp worth $85,710,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in Labcorp during the fourth quarter worth about $991,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Labcorp by 84.5% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 36,182 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $8,421,000 after acquiring an additional 16,574 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its position in Labcorp by 1.8% during the first quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 6,565 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,528,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its position in Labcorp by 40.2% during the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 1,718 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 493 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Labcorp by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 144,161 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $33,552,000 after acquiring an additional 8,273 shares during the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 5,643 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.78, for a total transaction of $1,505,439.54. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,895,642.82. This represents a 5.70% 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, Director Dwight Gary Gilliland sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.95, for a total value of $529,900.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,656 shares in the company, valued at $1,763,507.20. This trade represents a 23.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 16,046 shares of company stock valued at $4,337,192. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on LH. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Labcorp from $283.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Labcorp from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Labcorp from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Labcorp from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Labcorp from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $290.33.

Labcorp Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of LH stock traded down $3.26 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $275.42. 103,750 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 698,276. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Labcorp Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $209.38 and a 1 year high of $283.47. The stock has a market cap of $22.89 billion, a PE ratio of 30.59, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.85. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $264.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $250.21.

Labcorp (NYSE:LH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $4.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.14 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $3.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.49 billion. Labcorp had a return on equity of 15.45% and a net margin of 5.66%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.94 earnings per share. Labcorp has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.050-16.500 EPS. Research analysts predict that Labcorp Holdings Inc. will post 16.01 EPS for the current year.

Labcorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 28th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Labcorp's payout ratio is currently 31.79%.

Labcorp Company Profile

Labcorp Holdings, Inc engages in providing medical testing services. The company was founded on April 16, 2024 and is headquartered in Burlington, NC.