Baird Financial Group Inc. Purchases 5,966 Shares of Labcorp Holdings Inc. $LH

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group increased its Labcorp stake by 144.8% in the second quarter, purchasing 5,966 additional shares for a total holding valued at approximately $2.8 million. Institutional investors collectively own 95.94% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a positive outlook, with nine Buy ratings and three Holds. Labcorp has an average “Moderate Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $336.36.
• Labcorp exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $4.99 in adjusted EPS and $3.73 billion in revenue, while issuing fiscal 2026 EPS guidance of $18.10–$18.55. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.72 per share, yielding approximately 0.9%.

Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Labcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LH - Free Report) by 144.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,085 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 5,966 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Labcorp were worth $2,824,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Labcorp by 4.9% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 23,625 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $6,615,000 after buying an additional 1,096 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Labcorp by 3.0% in the second quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 3,412 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $955,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in shares of Labcorp by 3.2% in the second quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,141 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $879,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Nykredit A S bought a new stake in shares of Labcorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,660,000. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in Labcorp by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,115 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $309,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on LH shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Labcorp from $300.00 to $309.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen raised Labcorp from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Labcorp from $361.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 11th. Mizuho set a $355.00 target price on shares of Labcorp in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Labcorp from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $336.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Labcorp news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 4,669 shares of Labcorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.37, for a total transaction of $1,495,807.53. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 102,565 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,858,749.05. The trade was a 4.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Kathryn W. Kyle sold 92 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.19, for a total value of $26,329.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,904 shares in the company, valued at $1,117,285.76. This trade represents a 2.30% 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. Insiders sold 8,919 shares of company stock valued at $2,826,593 over the last quarter. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Labcorp Price Performance

LH opened at $324.55 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 1.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.32 billion, a PE ratio of 26.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.88. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $312.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $282.66. Labcorp Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $244.52 and a 52-week high of $341.80.

Labcorp (NYSE:LH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.71 billion. Labcorp had a net margin of 6.99% and a return on equity of 16.74%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.35 earnings per share. Labcorp has set its FY 2026 guidance at 18.100-18.550 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Labcorp Holdings Inc. will post 18.32 EPS for the current year.

Labcorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 11th. Investors of record on Friday, August 28th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 28th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Labcorp's payout ratio is currently 23.82%.

Labcorp Profile

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

Its diagnostics business offers routine and specialty laboratory testing, including molecular, genetic, oncology, women's health, infectious disease and pathology services.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LH? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Labcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LH - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.