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

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $127.50.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CAH shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Cardinal Health from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $101.00 to $127.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Cardinal Health from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Cardinal Health from $127.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CAH. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Cardinal Health by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $576,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. increased its holdings in Cardinal Health by 9.5% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its stake in Cardinal Health by 28.1% in the second quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 10,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,057,000 after buying an additional 2,360 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 27,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,667,000 after acquiring an additional 3,066 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 27,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,729,000 after acquiring an additional 1,725 shares during the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cardinal Health Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:CAH opened at $118.27 on Friday. Cardinal Health has a twelve month low of $93.17 and a twelve month high of $126.23. The company has a market cap of $28.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $118.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $110.18.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $52.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.73 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Cardinal Health will post 7.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Cardinal Health Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.30%.

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.