Willis Investment Counsel Sells 4,728 Shares of Labcorp Holdings Inc. $LH

Willis Investment Counsel lessened its stake in shares of Labcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LH) by 7.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 61,178 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 4,728 shares during the period. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in Labcorp were worth $17,562,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LH. Linscomb Wealth Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Labcorp by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 15,376 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,414,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Labcorp by 3,917.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 183,242 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $52,600,000 after buying an additional 178,681 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Labcorp by 29.7% during the 3rd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 336 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Optimize Financial Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Labcorp during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $437,000. Finally, Savant Capital LLC increased its stake in Labcorp by 3.0% in the third quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 5,186 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,489,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $313.00 target price on Labcorp in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Labcorp from $291.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Labcorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Labcorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Labcorp from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $300.58.

Labcorp Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE LH opened at $279.79 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.19 billion, a PE ratio of 27.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $261.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $267.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Labcorp Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $209.38 and a 12 month high of $293.72.

Labcorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. Labcorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.29%.

Insider Transactions at Labcorp

In other Labcorp news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 5,745 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.75, for a total transaction of $1,509,498.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 87,574 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,010,068.50. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

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.