Nordea Investment Management AB Sells 553,253 Shares of Labcorp Holdings Inc. $LH

Nordea Investment Management AB lessened its position in shares of Labcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LH) by 36.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 967,679 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 553,253 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Labcorp were worth $243,042,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Caldwell Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Labcorp in the second quarter valued at $25,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Labcorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Motco acquired a new position in shares of Labcorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Labcorp by 300.0% in the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Labcorp by 48.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 122 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Labcorp Stock Down 0.3%

LH opened at $263.18 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $21.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.16, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.42. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $273.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $269.51. Labcorp Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $209.38 and a twelve month high of $293.72.

Labcorp (NYSE:LH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The medical research company reported $4.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.95 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $3.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.56 billion. Labcorp had a net margin of 6.28% and a return on equity of 16.16%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.45 EPS. Labcorp has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.550-18.250 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Labcorp Holdings Inc. will post 16.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Labcorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Labcorp’s payout ratio is 27.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Brian J. Caveney sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.31, for a total value of $429,465.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,619,935.17. The trade was a 4.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 8,705 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.96, for a total value of $2,437,051.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 80,773 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,613,209.08. This trade represents a 9.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 16,113 shares of company stock valued at $4,547,450 over the last quarter. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LH has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Labcorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Labcorp from $319.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Labcorp from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Wall Street Zen raised Labcorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Labcorp in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $304.82.

Labcorp Profile

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.