Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Has $2.45 Million Stake in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund trimmed its position in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,731 shares of the company’s stock after selling 170 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Cardinal Health were worth $2,452,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Advisor OS LLC raised its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 8,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $951,000 after purchasing an additional 1,080 shares in the last quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 5,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $668,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cardinal Health in the fourth quarter valued at $3,908,000. Finally, Longbow Finance SA acquired a new position in shares of Cardinal Health in the fourth quarter valued at $9,922,000. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on CAH. Evercore ISI upgraded Cardinal Health from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Argus set a $148.00 price objective on Cardinal Health in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Cardinal Health from $142.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America upgraded Cardinal Health from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $132.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Cardinal Health from $136.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $139.36.

Cardinal Health Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CAH opened at $127.22 on Friday. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a twelve month low of $93.17 and a twelve month high of $132.84. The firm has a market cap of $30.73 billion, a PE ratio of 23.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.63. The business has a fifty day moving average of $124.52 and a 200-day moving average of $117.85.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.19. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 59.57% and a net margin of 0.59%. On average, analysts anticipate that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.5056 dividend. This represents a $2.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio is 37.69%.

About Cardinal Health

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.