Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $119.36.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CAH. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $115.00 to $107.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $114.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th.

Cardinal Health Stock Performance

Shares of Cardinal Health stock opened at $112.41 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.01. The company has a market cap of $27.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.60. Cardinal Health has a fifty-two week low of $90.19 and a fifty-two week high of $116.05.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $59.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.74 billion. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.37% and a negative return on equity of 54.85%. The company’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Cardinal Health will post 7.61 EPS for the current year.

Cardinal Health Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st were paid a dividend of $0.506 per share. This represents a $2.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. This is a boost from Cardinal Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Michelle D. Greene sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.85, for a total value of $435,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,094,491.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Michelle D. Greene sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.85, for a total value of $435,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,094,491.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Aaron E. Alt sold 2,323 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.91, for a total transaction of $252,997.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 36,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,015,184.97. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,963 shares of company stock valued at $12,379,980 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cardinal Health

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,099,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $403,022,000 after acquiring an additional 370,181 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 19.1% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,723,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $416,585,000 after acquiring an additional 598,002 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,730,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $305,584,000 after acquiring an additional 14,030 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Cardinal Health by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,759,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,974,000 after buying an additional 85,247 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Cardinal Health by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,683,447 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,517,000 after buying an additional 111,137 shares in the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Cardinal Health

Cardinal Health, Inc operates as a healthcare services and products company in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and internationally. It provides customized solutions for hospitals, healthcare systems, pharmacies, ambulatory surgery centers, clinical laboratories, physician offices, and patients in the home.