California Public Employees Retirement System Has $52.08 Million Position in Labcorp Holdings Inc. $LH

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its stake in Labcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LH) by 8.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 195,176 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 18,270 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Labcorp were worth $52,075,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Labcorp during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in Labcorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Labcorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Labcorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in Labcorp in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LH has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Labcorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Labcorp in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Labcorp from $335.00 to $338.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Labcorp from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Labcorp in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.40.

Labcorp Stock Performance

Shares of LH stock opened at $280.86 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 1.73. Labcorp Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $241.81 and a 52 week high of $293.72. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $266.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $268.21. The company has a market capitalization of $23.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.89.

Labcorp (NYSE:LH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The medical research company reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.09 by $0.16. Labcorp had a net margin of 6.66% and a return on equity of 16.29%. The company had revenue of $3.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.84 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Labcorp has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.700-18.350 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Labcorp Holdings Inc. will post 18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Labcorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 11th. Investors of record on Friday, August 28th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 28th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Labcorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 5,903 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.50, for a total value of $1,502,313.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 107,234 shares in the company, valued at $27,291,053. The trade was a 5.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Kathryn W. Kyle sold 762 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.89, for a total value of $201,084.18. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 3,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,006,212.57. This represents a 16.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 6,991 shares of company stock valued at $1,796,696. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

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.