Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $136.87.

Several analysts recently weighed in on CAH shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $117.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cardinal Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 3rd. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Cardinal Health in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $139.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $142.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $135.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cardinal Health

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in Cardinal Health by 4.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,177,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,566,913,000 after acquiring an additional 627,253 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,859,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $691,145,000 after buying an additional 109,273 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 4.7% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,290,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $474,203,000 after buying an additional 191,568 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,182,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $376,396,000 after buying an additional 140,368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 154.6% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,151,736 shares of the company’s stock valued at $372,756,000 after buying an additional 1,913,892 shares during the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cardinal Health Stock Performance

Cardinal Health stock opened at $127.35 on Friday. Cardinal Health has a fifty-two week low of $93.17 and a fifty-two week high of $132.84. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $123.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.88. The company has a market capitalization of $30.76 billion, a PE ratio of 23.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.63.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.19. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.59% and a negative return on equity of 59.57%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cardinal Health will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Cardinal Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a $0.5056 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.69%.

Cardinal Health Company Profile

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.