Analysts Set Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) Price Target at $245.67

Shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $245.6667.

CAH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $252.00 price target on shares of Cardinal Health in a report on Friday, February 6th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $232.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Cardinal Health from $209.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Barclays lifted their price target on Cardinal Health from $243.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cardinal Health in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st.

Cardinal Health Stock Up 1.9%

CAH opened at $211.17 on Monday. Cardinal Health has a 52-week low of $120.72 and a 52-week high of $233.60. The company has a market cap of $49.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $217.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $195.65.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $65.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.88 billion. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.68% and a negative return on equity of 92.50%. Cardinal Health’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.93 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cardinal Health will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.5107 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Cardinal Health’s payout ratio is 29.35%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cardinal Health

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Aventura Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Cardinal Health during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in Cardinal Health during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Palladiem LLC acquired a new position in Cardinal Health during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its holdings in Cardinal Health by 1,363.6% in the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during 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.