Labcorp (NYSE:LH) Hits New 52-Week High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Labcorp shares hit a new 52-week high, reaching $374.50 and last trading at $373.68, above the prior close of $372.23.
• The company beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates: EPS was $4.78 versus $4.64 expected, while revenue rose 6.9% year over year to $3.81 billion.
• Analysts’ consensus rating is Moderate Buy, with an average price target of $369.08. Labcorp also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.72 per share, equivalent to a 0.8% yield.

Labcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LH - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday. The company traded as high as $374.50 and last traded at $373.6820, with a volume of 2,247 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $372.23.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LH. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Labcorp from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Deutsche Bank reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $355.00 price objective on shares of Labcorp in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. HSBC raised Labcorp from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $410.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Labcorp from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Labcorp from $380.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $369.08.

Labcorp Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $328.02 and a 200-day moving average of $291.56. The firm has a market cap of $30.25 billion, a PE ratio of 30.58, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

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

Labcorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 24th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Labcorp's payout ratio is currently 23.63%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Bryan T. Vaughn sold 306 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.70, for a total transaction of $108,232.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 6,845 shares in the company, valued at $2,421,076.50. The trade was a 4.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Richelle P. Parham sold 1,078 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.22, for a total transaction of $389,395.16. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,288 shares of the company's stock, valued at $826,471.36. This trade represents a 32.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 6,384 shares of company stock worth $2,195,767. Insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Labcorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LH. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Labcorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,806,000. Ieq Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Labcorp by 7.2% in the third quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 15,041 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $4,634,000 after purchasing an additional 1,016 shares during the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Labcorp by 11.1% in the third quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 1,073 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Alpha Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Labcorp in the third quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance raised its stake in Labcorp by 24.9% in the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 14,721 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $4,590,000 after purchasing an additional 2,936 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company's stock.

Labcorp Company Profile

Labcorp NYSE: LH, formally Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, is a global life sciences company that provides diagnostic testing and services to patients, physicians, hospitals, employers and other health care organizations. Its offerings include routine and specialty laboratory tests, anatomic pathology and genetic testing. The company also supports pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies with laboratory services for drug development and clinical trials, including testing and analysis used in research and clinical studies.

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