Kentucky Retirement Systems Lowers Stock Holdings in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)

Kentucky Retirement Systems trimmed its position in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,757 shares of the company’s stock after selling 231 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Cardinal Health were worth $1,982,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 35.2% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 32,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,871,000 after buying an additional 8,471 shares in the last quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 240,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,435,000 after buying an additional 3,576 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,749,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $633,298,000 after buying an additional 42,082 shares in the last quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 40.0% in the fourth quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 8,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,056,000 after buying an additional 2,552 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Cardinal Health by 2.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,474,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,976,000 after purchasing an additional 33,388 shares in the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cardinal Health Stock Performance

Shares of Cardinal Health stock opened at $126.96 on Friday. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a 52-week low of $93.17 and a 52-week high of $132.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.63. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $123.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $117.21.

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

Cardinal Health Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CAH shares. Evercore ISI raised shares of Cardinal Health from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $135.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. TD Cowen raised shares of Cardinal Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $130.00 to $144.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $120.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cardinal Health currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.40.

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.