Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Takes $7.79 Million Position in Labcorp Holdings Inc. $LH

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Labcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LH) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 27,828 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,792,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Labcorp by 106.5% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 57,981 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $15,470,000 after purchasing an additional 29,899 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Labcorp by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,137,010 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $534,023,000 after purchasing an additional 13,775 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Labcorp by 61.3% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 19,974 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,011,000 after buying an additional 7,592 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Labcorp by 103.1% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Labcorp by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 177,338 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $44,629,000 after buying an additional 8,748 shares during the period. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on LH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Labcorp from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Mizuho set a $355.00 price objective on Labcorp in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Labcorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Labcorp from $308.00 to $338.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Labcorp from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $330.00.

Labcorp Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of Labcorp stock opened at $327.36 on Wednesday. Labcorp Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $244.52 and a 52-week 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $303.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $279.57. The firm has a market cap of $26.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.88.

Labcorp (NYSE:LH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The medical research company reported $4.99 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.78 by $0.21. Labcorp had a net margin of 6.99% and a return on equity of 16.74%. The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.35 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Labcorp has set its FY 2026 guidance at 18.100-18.550 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Labcorp Holdings Inc. will post 18.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Labcorp Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 4,669 shares of Labcorp 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 102,565 shares in the company, valued at $32,858,749.05. The trade was a 4.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Kathryn W. Kyle sold 92 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.19, for a total value of $26,329.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 3,904 shares in the company, valued at $1,117,285.76. This represents a 2.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,681 shares of company stock worth $3,027,677. Corporate 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.