HSBC Downgrades Labcorp (NYSE:LH) to Hold

HSBC cut shares of Labcorp (NYSE:LH - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has $260.00 target price on the medical research company's stock.

LH has been the topic of several other research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Labcorp from $253.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Labcorp from $274.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Labcorp from $270.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Labcorp from $260.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays restated a "cautious" rating on shares of Labcorp in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Labcorp has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $276.38.

Labcorp Stock Performance

Labcorp stock traded down $5.00 on Thursday, hitting $248.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 434,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 645,590. The firm has a market cap of $20.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $253.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $242.95. Labcorp has a one year low of $200.90 and a one year high of $265.72.

Labcorp (NYSE:LH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The medical research company reported $3.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.11. Labcorp had a net margin of 5.55% and a return on equity of 15.27%. The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.41 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.68 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Labcorp will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Labcorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. Labcorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.29%.

Insider Activity

In other Labcorp news, CAO Peter J. Wilkinson sold 829 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.26, for a total transaction of $200,833.54. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,054 shares in the company, valued at approximately $497,602.04. This trade represents a 28.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Brian J. Caveney sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.00, for a total transaction of $494,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 30,067 shares in the company, valued at $7,426,549. This trade represents a 6.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,834 shares of company stock worth $2,928,714. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Labcorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Labcorp by 27.5% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,357 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $619,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in Labcorp by 1.8% during the second quarter. WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 34,801 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $9,136,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Labcorp by 3,009.3% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 119,958 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $31,490,000 after buying an additional 116,100 shares during the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its holdings in Labcorp by 5.2% during the second quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 16,682 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $4,379,000 after buying an additional 823 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Labcorp by 7.4% during the second quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 4,228 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,110,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.