Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report published on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on CAH. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $232.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Cardinal Health from $209.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. UBS Group set a $260.00 price target on Cardinal Health and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Cardinal Health from $220.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $252.00 target price on Cardinal Health in a research report on Friday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $244.20.

Cardinal Health Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE CAH opened at $224.83 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $52.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.35, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $211.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.40. Cardinal Health has a 12-month low of $120.72 and a 12-month high of $230.81.

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

Cardinal Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.5107 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 1st. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.35%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cardinal Health

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Cardinal Health in the 4th quarter valued at $790,344,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 153.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,804,090 shares of the company’s stock worth $911,010,000 after acquiring an additional 3,511,579 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP raised its holdings in Cardinal Health by 141.4% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,926,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,332,000 after purchasing an additional 1,128,358 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Cardinal Health by 1,328.1% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 951,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $195,484,000 after purchasing an additional 884,648 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Cardinal Health by 109.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,584,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,658,000 after purchasing an additional 827,446 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Cardinal Health Company Profile

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.