Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CAH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $142.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Argus set a $148.00 price target on shares of Cardinal Health in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Evercore ISI upgraded Cardinal Health from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $120.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Cardinal Health from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $132.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cardinal Health currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $139.36.

Cardinal Health Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $32.09 billion, a PE ratio of 24.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $127.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $120.38.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.19. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 59.57% and a net margin of 0.59%. On average, equities analysts predict that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Cardinal Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.69%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cardinal Health

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