Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on CAH. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Cardinal Health from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $115.00 to $107.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Argus increased their price objective on Cardinal Health from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $119.36.

Cardinal Health Price Performance

CAH opened at $112.41 on Thursday. Cardinal Health has a fifty-two week low of $90.19 and a fifty-two week high of $116.05. The company has a market capitalization of $27.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $111.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $103.96.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.10. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 54.85% and a net margin of 0.37%. The firm had revenue of $59.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Cardinal Health will post 7.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st were paid a $0.506 dividend. This represents a $2.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. This is an increase from Cardinal Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. Cardinal Health’s payout ratio is presently 89.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cardinal Health news, CEO Jason M. Hollar sold 46,455 shares of Cardinal Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.02, for a total transaction of $5,064,524.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 197,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,546,276.72. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Cardinal Health news, CEO Jason M. Hollar sold 26,716 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.87, for a total transaction of $2,908,570.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 244,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,574,187.17. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jason M. Hollar sold 46,455 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.02, for a total value of $5,064,524.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 197,636 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,546,276.72. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 113,963 shares of company stock worth $12,379,980. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cardinal Health

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CAH. Cultivar Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health in the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Cardinal Health during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in Cardinal Health in the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

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.