Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) Shares Acquired by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 70,278 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Cardinal Health were worth $8,312,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Cardinal Health by 4.6% during the 3rd 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 lifted its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,749,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $633,298,000 after purchasing an additional 42,082 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Cardinal Health by 4.7% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,290,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $474,203,000 after purchasing an additional 191,568 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Cardinal Health by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,519,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,653,000 after buying an additional 44,386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in Cardinal Health by 47.9% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,069,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,197,000 after buying an additional 346,362 shares in the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho began coverage on Cardinal Health in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $139.00 price target for the company. Bank of America upgraded shares of Cardinal Health from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $132.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $142.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $120.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Cardinal Health from $135.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $139.36.

Cardinal Health Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE CAH opened at $126.40 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $30.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.66. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $125.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $118.63. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $93.17 and a fifty-two week high of $132.84.

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

Cardinal Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a $0.5056 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.69%.

Cardinal Health 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.