The big shareholder groups in Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) have power over the company. Institutions will often hold stock in bigger companies, and we expect to see insiders owning a noticeable percentage of the smaller ones. Companies that used to be publicly owned tend to have lower insider ownership.
Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings has a market capitalization of US$27b, so it’s too big to fly under the radar. We’d expect to see both institutions and retail investors owning a portion of the company. Our analysis of the ownership of the company, below, shows that institutions own shares in the company. Let’s take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings.
View our latest analysis for Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings?
Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it’s included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.
As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can’t rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. When multiple institutions own a stock, there’s always a risk that they are in a ‘crowded trade’. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings’ historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there’s always more to the story.
Institutional investors own over 50{21df340e03e388cc75c411746d1a214f72c176b221768b7ada42b4d751988996} of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. We note that hedge funds don’t have a meaningful investment in Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings. The Vanguard Group, Inc. is currently the largest shareholder, with 11{21df340e03e388cc75c411746d1a214f72c176b221768b7ada42b4d751988996} of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 8.1{21df340e03e388cc75c411746d1a214f72c176b221768b7ada42b4d751988996} of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 4.5{21df340e03e388cc75c411746d1a214f72c176b221768b7ada42b4d751988996} by the third-largest shareholder.
Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 50{21df340e03e388cc75c411746d1a214f72c176b221768b7ada42b4d751988996} of the ownership is controlled by the top 24 shareholders, meaning that no single shareholder has a majority interest in the ownership.
Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock’s expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.
Insider Ownership Of Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings
While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.
I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.
Our information suggests that Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings insiders own under 1{21df340e03e388cc75c411746d1a214f72c176b221768b7ada42b4d751988996} of the company. It is a very large company, so it would be surprising to see insiders own a large proportion of the company. Though their holding amounts to less than 1{21df340e03e388cc75c411746d1a214f72c176b221768b7ada42b4d751988996}, we can see that board members collectively own US$144m worth of shares (at current prices). Arguably recent buying and selling is just as important to consider. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.
General Public Ownership
The general public– including retail investors — own 10{21df340e03e388cc75c411746d1a214f72c176b221768b7ada42b4d751988996} stake in the company, and hence can’t easily be ignored. While this group can’t necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.
Next Steps:
It’s always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we’ve discovered 2 warning signs for Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (1 is potentially serious!) that you should be aware of before investing here.
Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.
NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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