Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) Upgraded to “Equal Weight” at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note published on Friday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $127.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $101.00.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on CAH. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Cardinal Health from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Barclays lifted their price target on Cardinal Health from $117.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Cardinal Health from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Mizuho began coverage on Cardinal Health in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $139.00 price target for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $126.75.

Cardinal Health Price Performance

Shares of Cardinal Health stock opened at $118.10 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a 50-day moving average of $117.12 and a 200 day moving average of $108.53. Cardinal Health has a 12 month low of $93.17 and a 12 month high of $126.23.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.56% and a negative return on equity of 56.56%. The business had revenue of $52.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.73 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cardinal Health will post 7.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Cardinal Health Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a $0.5056 dividend. This represents a $2.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.30%.

Institutional Trading of Cardinal Health

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Paragon Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 0.7% during the second quarter. Paragon Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,451,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Midland Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Cardinal Health by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Midland Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 5.1% in the second quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,071 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 0.5% during the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 20,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,054,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank increased its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 0.9% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 10,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,193,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.