Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) Cut to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Sunday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Cardinal Health from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Cardinal Health from $130.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Cardinal Health from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Cardinal Health from $114.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Cardinal Health from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Cardinal Health Stock Performance

NYSE CAH opened at $115.58 on Friday. Cardinal Health has a fifty-two week low of $93.17 and a fifty-two week high of $119.13. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $111.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.23. The stock has a market cap of $27.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.60.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $52.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $50.90 billion. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 56.56% and a net margin of 0.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.73 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Cardinal Health will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Cardinal Health Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a $0.5056 dividend. This represents a $2.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Cardinal Health’s payout ratio is 39.30%.

Insider Transactions at Cardinal Health

In other Cardinal Health news, insider Jessica L. Mayer sold 17,896 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.48, for a total transaction of $1,905,566.08. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 94,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,065,447.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Jessica L. Mayer sold 17,896 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.48, for a total transaction of $1,905,566.08. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 94,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,065,447.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Aaron E. Alt sold 2,323 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.91, for a total value of $252,997.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 36,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,015,184.97. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 113,963 shares of company stock valued at $12,379,980. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cardinal Health

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Cardinal Health by 379.5% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 106,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,873,000 after purchasing an additional 83,975 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 21.7% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 27,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,095,000 after buying an additional 4,938 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 13.4% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 12,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,350,000 after buying an additional 1,428 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Cardinal Health by 34.2% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 85,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,576,000 after purchasing an additional 21,801 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Cardinal Health in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $159,000. Hedge funds and other 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.