Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) Sets New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $127.89 and last traded at $127.81, with a volume of 1588946 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $126.27.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Cardinal Health from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $132.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI upgraded Cardinal Health from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen raised Cardinal Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $144.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup upped their target price on Cardinal Health from $120.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Cardinal Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cardinal Health currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.29.

Cardinal Health Trading Up 1.2 %

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $120.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $112.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.63.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $52.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.90 billion. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.56% and a negative return on equity of 56.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.73 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a $0.5056 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.30%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Paragon Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Cardinal Health by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Paragon Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,451,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 0.9% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 10,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,193,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL increased its holdings in Cardinal Health by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 11,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,125,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Cardinal Health by 69.8% during the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Cardinal Health by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,249 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

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.