Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC Boosts Stake in Cardinal Health, Inc. $CAH

Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC raised its position in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) by 13.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 67,466 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,109 shares during the quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Cardinal Health were worth $10,589,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAH. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 0.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,823,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,838,054,000 after buying an additional 247,667 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Cardinal Health by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,389,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,069,005,000 after acquiring an additional 205,539 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Cardinal Health during the 2nd quarter valued at about $584,420,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Cardinal Health by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,037,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $510,347,000 after acquiring an additional 207,750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Cardinal Health by 2.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,349,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $394,761,000 after purchasing an additional 45,812 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on CAH. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $220.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $222.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Argus raised their price target 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. Evercore boosted their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $250.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Cardinal Health from $209.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. One 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $245.67.

Cardinal Health Stock Down 3.1%

NYSE CAH opened at $216.16 on Friday. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a 52 week low of $120.72 and a 52 week high of $233.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $215.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $189.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.87 billion, a PE ratio of 31.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.65.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share 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. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 1st. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.35%.

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.