Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $133.68 and last traded at $132.86, with a volume of 2122562 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $133.21.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on CAH shares. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Cardinal Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $144.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Evercore ISI raised Cardinal Health from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Cardinal Health from $120.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Mizuho assumed coverage on Cardinal Health in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $139.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Cardinal Health from $136.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $139.36.

Cardinal Health Stock Up 2.2 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $33.07 billion, a PE ratio of 25.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.66. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $128.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $120.59.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 forecast that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.5056 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.69%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAH. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 687.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 134,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,961,000 after acquiring an additional 117,803 shares in the last quarter. 111 Capital purchased a new stake in Cardinal Health during the 4th quarter worth approximately $560,000. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ acquired a new position in Cardinal Health during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,576,000. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV raised its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV now owns 4,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $510,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lifted its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 2,320.0% during the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 63,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,516,000 after buying an additional 60,923 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.