Labcorp (NYSE:LH) Stock Price Breaks Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Labcorp shares broke above their 200-day moving average, reaching $315.48 and last trading near $314.54, compared with the $287.10 long-term average.
• Analyst sentiment is favorable, with nine Buy ratings and three Holds, a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, and an average price target of $337.73.
• Labcorp exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, while revenue increased 5.8% year over year; however, insiders sold 8,593 shares worth approximately $2.7 million over the past three months.

Labcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LH - Get Free Report) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $287.10 and traded as high as $315.48. Labcorp shares last traded at $314.5420, with a volume of 701,493 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Labcorp from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Labcorp from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 11th. UBS Group increased their target price on Labcorp from $361.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 11th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Labcorp from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on Labcorp from $350.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $337.73.

Labcorp Stock Up 0.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 1.53. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $320.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $287.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Insider Activity at Labcorp

In other Labcorp news, CEO Adam Schechter sold 4,669 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.37, for a total value of $1,495,807.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 102,565 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,858,749.05. This represents a 4.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Kerrii Anderson sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.02, for a total value of $954,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,563 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,087,165.26. This represents a 31.37% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 8,593 shares of company stock worth $2,733,295 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LH. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Labcorp by 103.1% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,356,825 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,343,922,000 after buying an additional 2,719,475 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Labcorp by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,226,446 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $607,241,000 after acquiring an additional 22,170 shares during the period. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Labcorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $480,271,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Labcorp by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,332,775 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $355,569,000 after acquiring an additional 28,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Labcorp by 19.4% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 820,442 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $218,901,000 after acquiring an additional 133,549 shares during the period. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Labcorp Company Profile

Labcorp NYSE: LH, formally Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, is a global life sciences and laboratory services company headquartered in Burlington, North Carolina. The company provides diagnostic testing, drug development services and technology-enabled laboratory solutions to healthcare providers, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, government agencies and consumers.

Its diagnostics business offers routine and specialty laboratory testing, including testing related to oncology, women's health, infectious diseases, genetics and genomics.

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