Prudential Financial Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)

Prudential Financial Inc. decreased its position in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) by 45.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 159,339 shares of the company’s stock after selling 133,139 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Cardinal Health were worth $18,845,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC acquired a new stake in Cardinal Health during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Cardinal Health in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Cardinal Health by 57.6% in the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CAH shares. Mizuho initiated coverage on Cardinal Health in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $139.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of 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 shares of Cardinal Health from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $132.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Cardinal Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $150.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Argus set a $148.00 target price on shares of Cardinal Health in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $139.36.

Cardinal Health Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Cardinal Health stock opened at $133.91 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.98, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.66. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a twelve month low of $93.17 and a twelve month high of $134.86. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $127.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $120.48.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Cardinal Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.5056 per share. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Cardinal Health’s payout ratio is 37.69%.

Cardinal Health 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.