Labcorp Holdings Inc. $LH Shares Sold by Westpac Banking Corp

Key Points

• Westpac Banking Corp reduced its Labcorp stake by 40.8% in the fourth quarter, though institutional investors still control the vast majority of the company’s shares at 95.94%.
• Labcorp CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 5,903 shares on May 11 in a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 transaction, trimming his ownership by 5.22%.
• Analysts remain constructive on LH, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $308, while Labcorp also beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates in its latest earnings report.

Westpac Banking Corp lessened its stake in shares of Labcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LH - Free Report) by 40.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,237 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 7,069 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp's holdings in Labcorp were worth $2,568,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Labcorp by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,850,631 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,471,326,000 after acquiring an additional 37,197 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Labcorp by 20.0% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,637,350 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $756,878,000 after acquiring an additional 440,224 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Labcorp by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,204,276 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $554,728,000 after buying an additional 207,962 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Labcorp by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,137,010 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $534,023,000 after buying an additional 13,775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 5,903 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.50, for a total transaction of $1,502,313.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 107,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,291,053. This represents a 5.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on LH shares. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Labcorp in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Labcorp in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Labcorp from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Labcorp from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $334.00 price objective on shares of Labcorp in a report on Friday, May 1st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Labcorp has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $308.00.

Labcorp Stock Performance

NYSE:LH opened at $259.46 on Thursday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $262.86 and its 200-day moving average is $265.66. Labcorp Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $241.81 and a 52-week high of $293.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 1.73. The company has a market cap of $21.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.98, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.90.

Labcorp (NYSE:LH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The medical research company reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.09 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $3.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.51 billion. Labcorp had a net margin of 6.66% and a return on equity of 16.29%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.84 earnings per share. Labcorp has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.700-18.350 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Labcorp Holdings Inc. will post 17.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Labcorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. Labcorp's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.51%.

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.

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