Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. Lowers Stake in Cardinal Health, Inc. $CAH

Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) by 4.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 408,014 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,973 shares during the quarter. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. owned approximately 0.17% of Cardinal Health worth $64,042,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CAH. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in Cardinal Health by 198.3% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 21,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 14,034 shares during the period. American Capital Advisory LLC raised its position in Cardinal Health by 5,200.0% during the 3rd quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC raised its position in Cardinal Health by 55.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health in the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cardinal Health Trading Down 1.0%

CAH opened at $216.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $51.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.22, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.65. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a 12 month low of $120.72 and a 12 month high of $233.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $216.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $192.20.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.32. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 92.50% and a net margin of 0.68%.The company had revenue of $65.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Cardinal Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.5107 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 1st. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on CAH shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Cardinal Health from $195.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley set a $255.00 target price on shares of Cardinal Health in a report on Friday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Cardinal Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Leerink Partners restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $275.00 price target on shares of Cardinal Health in a report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $237.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $245.67.

Cardinal Health 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.