Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $123.00.

Several research firms have issued reports on CAH. Argus raised their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $130.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th.

Cardinal Health Stock Performance

CAH stock opened at $121.32 on Friday. Cardinal Health has a one year low of $93.17 and a one year high of $126.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.36 billion, a PE ratio of 23.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a fifty day moving average of $113.00 and a 200-day moving average of $105.07.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.56% and a negative return on equity of 56.56%. The business had revenue of $52.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.73 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Cardinal Health will post 7.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.5056 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cardinal Health

In other news, insider Michelle D. Greene sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.85, for a total transaction of $435,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,094,491.70. The trade was a 17.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jessica L. Mayer sold 16,573 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.39, for a total transaction of $1,812,920.47. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 75,971 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,310,467.69. The trade was a 17.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 69,351 shares of company stock valued at $7,565,843 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CAH. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 13.4% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 12,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,350,000 after purchasing an additional 1,428 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP acquired a new stake in Cardinal Health in the first quarter valued at $380,000. Empirical Finance LLC raised its holdings in Cardinal Health by 3.2% in the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 9,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,076,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in Cardinal Health by 13.7% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 34,613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,873,000 after acquiring an additional 4,177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Cardinal Health by 9.4% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 80,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,050,000 after acquiring an additional 6,947 shares in the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cardinal Health Company Profile

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.