California State Teachers Retirement System Grows Holdings in Labcorp Holdings Inc. $LH

Key Points

• California State Teachers Retirement System dramatically increased its Labcorp stake by 28,952.8% in the second quarter, acquiring 34.88 million additional shares and bringing its reported ownership to approximately 43.16%. Institutional investors collectively own 95.94% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a favorable outlook, with nine Buy ratings and three Holds, resulting in a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $330. Recent targets range from $306 to $352.
• Labcorp exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $4.99 in EPS and $3.73 billion in revenue, while revenue rose 5.8% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.72 per share, equivalent to a 0.9% yield.

California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in Labcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LH - Free Report) by 28,952.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 35,002,800 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 34,882,320 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 43.16% of Labcorp worth $9,800,784,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Labcorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Labcorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. DV Equities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Labcorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Allied Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Labcorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, EFG International AG purchased a new stake in shares of Labcorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. 95.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on LH shares. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Labcorp from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Barclays increased their target price on Labcorp from $290.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Labcorp from $308.00 to $338.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $306.00 price target on shares of Labcorp in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $352.00 price target on shares of Labcorp in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Labcorp has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $330.00.

Insider Activity at Labcorp

In other Labcorp news, EVP Bryan T. Vaughn sold 234 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.19, for a total transaction of $66,968.46. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 6,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,930,637.74. This represents a 3.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 4,669 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.37, for a total transaction of $1,495,807.53. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 102,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,858,749.05. The trade was a 4.35% 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 sold a total of 8,919 shares of company stock valued at $2,826,593 over the last three months. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Labcorp Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LH opened at $324.95 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $26.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.88, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.88. Labcorp Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $244.52 and a twelve month high of $341.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a 50 day moving average of $308.74 and a 200 day moving average of $281.29.

Labcorp (NYSE:LH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The medical research company reported $4.99 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.78 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. Labcorp had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 6.99%.The company's revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.35 EPS. Labcorp has set its FY 2026 guidance at 18.100-18.550 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Labcorp Holdings Inc. will post 18.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Labcorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 11th. Investors of record on Friday, August 28th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 28th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Labcorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.82%.

About Labcorp

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.

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