Bank of America Corp DE Trims Stock Position in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)

Bank of America Corp DE reduced its stake in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,666,785 shares of the company’s stock after selling 124,729 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned 1.10% of Cardinal Health worth $315,401,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC purchased a new position in Cardinal Health in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cardinal Health during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Cardinal Health during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in Cardinal Health in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Cardinal Health in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Cardinal Health Trading Up 1.3 %

Cardinal Health stock opened at $153.68 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $133.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $125.81. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a 52 week low of $93.17 and a 52 week high of $153.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.67, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.66.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.20. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.59% and a negative return on equity of 59.57%. The business had revenue of $54.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.08 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Cardinal Health Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.5107 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. This is an increase from Cardinal Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 1st. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho raised their price target on Cardinal Health from $142.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Cardinal Health from $142.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Argus set a $148.00 price target on shares of Cardinal Health in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Cardinal Health from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cardinal Health presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $146.43.

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.