Cardinal Health, Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.50 (NYSE:CAH)

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, November 14th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of 0.5006 per share on Monday, January 15th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%.

Cardinal Health has raised its dividend by an average of 1.0% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 27 years. Cardinal Health has a dividend payout ratio of 29.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Cardinal Health to earn $7.65 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 26.1%.

Cardinal Health Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE CAH traded down $2.04 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $102.90. 2,838,546 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,312,980. The company has a market cap of $25.36 billion, a PE ratio of 172.03, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.76. Cardinal Health has a 12 month low of $68.53 and a 12 month high of $105.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $91.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.93.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 3rd. The company reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.33. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.07% and a negative return on equity of 60.27%. The firm had revenue of $54.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Cardinal Health will post 6.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Cardinal Health

In other Cardinal Health news, insider Jessica L. Mayer sold 30,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.84, for a total transaction of $2,738,371.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 95,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,678,217.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Cardinal Health news, insider Jessica L. Mayer sold 30,145 shares of Cardinal Health stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.84, for a total transaction of $2,738,371.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 95,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,678,217.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Deborah Weitzman sold 6,712 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.81, for a total value of $602,804.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 44,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,969,781.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 95,052 shares of company stock valued at $8,401,034 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cardinal Health

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 2.1% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,802,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,246,751,000 after buying an additional 457,777 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,186,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,748,000 after acquiring an additional 511,826 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 0.5% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,396,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $406,560,000 after purchasing an additional 28,250 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Cardinal Health by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,594,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,155,000 after purchasing an additional 161,667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Cardinal Health in the fourth quarter valued at $220,230,000. 86.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CAH shares. TheStreet downgraded shares of Cardinal Health from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Cardinal Health from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 16th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Cardinal Health from $91.00 to $99.00 in a research note on Monday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $107.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cardinal Health presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.92.

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.