Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Sunday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

CAH has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays increased their price target on Cardinal Health from $258.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Cardinal Health in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Leerink Partners set a $292.00 price objective on Cardinal Health in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Cardinal Health from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Cardinal Health in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $276.00 target price for the company. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $266.56.

Cardinal Health Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of Cardinal Health stock opened at $223.82 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $232.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $219.91. Cardinal Health has a 12-month low of $150.77 and a 12-month high of $258.30. The company has a market capitalization of $51.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.51.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported $2.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42 by $0.49. The business had revenue of $63.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $65.15 billion. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 98.53% and a net margin of 0.67%.Cardinal Health’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.08 EPS. Cardinal Health has set its FY 2027 guidance at 12.400-12.600 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Cardinal Health will post 12.55 EPS for the current year.

Cardinal Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $0.5158 per share. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.49%.

Insider Activity at Cardinal Health

In related news, CEO Deborah Weitzman sold 7,354 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.45, for a total value of $1,731,499.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 77,901 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,341,790.45. This represents a 8.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jason Hollar sold 80,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.74, for a total transaction of $18,859,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 235,132 shares in the company, valued at $55,430,017.68. This represents a 25.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 210,271 shares of company stock valued at $49,626,657 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cardinal Health

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cardinal Health during the second quarter valued at approximately $6,293,115,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 247.5% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,860,271 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,530,206,000 after acquiring an additional 10,584,119 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Cardinal Health in the fourth quarter valued at $790,344,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Cardinal Health during the 2nd quarter valued at $689,066,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Cardinal Health by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,698,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $554,478,000 after purchasing an additional 414,074 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cardinal Health Company Profile

Cardinal Health, Inc is a healthcare services and products company that supports pharmacies, hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, physician offices and other healthcare providers. Its operations are primarily organized into Pharmaceutical and Medical segments.

The Pharmaceutical segment distributes branded, generic, specialty and over-the-counter medicines, as well as consumer health products. It also provides services related to specialty pharmaceuticals, pharmaceutical sourcing, nuclear and precision health products, and data and analytics for pharmaceutical manufacturers and healthcare organizations.

The Medical segment distributes medical and surgical products, including gloves, apparel, incontinence supplies, laboratory products and other essential items.