Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) Raised to Outperform at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) from an in-line rating to an outperform rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $140.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on CAH. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on Cardinal Health from $117.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Cardinal Health from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $101.00 to $127.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Cardinal Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 3rd. Finally, Mizuho began coverage on shares of Cardinal Health in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $139.00 target price for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.71.

Cardinal Health Price Performance

Shares of Cardinal Health stock opened at $122.56 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $29.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.63. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $119.77 and its 200-day moving average is $110.84. Cardinal Health has a one year low of $93.17 and a one year high of $126.23.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 56.56% and a net margin of 0.56%. The firm had revenue of $52.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $50.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.73 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Cardinal Health will post 7.82 EPS for the current year.

Cardinal Health Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a $0.5056 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.30%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cardinal Health

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in Cardinal Health by 16.4% during the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 14,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,382,000 after buying an additional 1,979 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Cardinal Health in the 2nd quarter valued at about $63,000. Certuity LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 7.7% during the second quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 2,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 12.4% in the second quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,000 after buying an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 10.3% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 10,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $998,000 after buying an additional 950 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

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.