Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) Receives $245.67 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fourteen have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $245.6667.

CAH has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Cardinal Health and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $252.00 target price on shares of Cardinal Health in a report on Friday, February 6th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $243.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Citigroup upgraded Cardinal Health from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $190.00 to $244.00 in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Leerink Partners reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $275.00 price objective on shares of Cardinal Health in a research note on Monday, March 9th.

Cardinal Health Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE CAH opened at $206.61 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $48.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.65. Cardinal Health has a twelve month low of $120.72 and a twelve month high of $233.60. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $217.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $196.12.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $65.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.88 billion. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.68% and a negative return on equity of 92.50%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.93 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Cardinal Health will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Cardinal Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.5107 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Cardinal Health’s payout ratio is presently 29.35%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cardinal Health

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Aventura Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Cardinal Health in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Palladiem LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cardinal Health during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 1,363.6% during the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 161 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Cardinal Health

Cardinal Health is a multinational healthcare services and products company headquartered in Dublin, Ohio. Tracing its roots to the early 1970s, the company has grown into a major provider of supply chain and distribution services for the healthcare sector. Cardinal Health operates across a range of service lines that support hospitals, health systems, pharmacies, physician offices and clinical laboratories.

The company’s core activities include the wholesale distribution of branded and generic pharmaceuticals, the supply and distribution of medical-surgical products, and the provision of logistics and inventory management solutions.