Cardinal Health Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:CAH)

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 7,328 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 55% compared to the typical volume of 4,730 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cardinal Health

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CAH. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,177,641 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,566,913,000 after buying an additional 627,253 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Cardinal Health by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,859,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $691,145,000 after acquiring an additional 109,273 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Cardinal Health by 4.7% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,290,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $474,203,000 after acquiring an additional 191,568 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 140,368 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 154.6% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,151,736 shares of the company’s stock valued at $372,756,000 after purchasing 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 Trading Up 0.2 %

CAH stock traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $127.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,512,984 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,367,929. The company’s 50 day moving average is $125.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $118.57. Cardinal Health has a fifty-two week low of $93.17 and a fifty-two week high of $132.84. The stock has a market cap of $30.84 billion, a PE ratio of 23.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.63.

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

Cardinal Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.5056 dividend. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of Cardinal Health from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Mizuho assumed coverage on Cardinal Health in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $139.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Cardinal Health from $136.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $120.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Cardinal Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $150.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $139.36.

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.