Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) Receives $127.50 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $127.50.

CAH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $127.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group increased their target price 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. Argus lifted their target price on Cardinal Health from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Mizuho assumed coverage on Cardinal Health in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $139.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Cardinal Health from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $101.00 to $127.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th.

Cardinal Health Price Performance

Shares of CAH opened at $118.27 on Friday. Cardinal Health has a 1-year low of $93.17 and a 1-year high of $126.23. The stock has a market cap of $28.62 billion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $118.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $110.18.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last announced its 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 negative return on equity of 56.56% and a net margin of 0.56%. The firm had revenue of $52.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $50.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.73 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Cardinal Health will post 7.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. Cardinal Health’s payout ratio is currently 39.30%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cardinal Health

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CAH. State Street Corp grew its position in Cardinal Health by 4.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,177,641 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,566,913,000 after buying an additional 627,253 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,749,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $633,298,000 after acquiring an additional 42,082 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Cardinal Health by 4.7% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,290,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $474,203,000 after purchasing an additional 191,568 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in Cardinal Health by 5.1% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,759,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,974,000 after purchasing an additional 85,247 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Cardinal Health by 7.1% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,683,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,517,000 after purchasing an additional 111,137 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

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.