Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

CAH has been the subject of several other reports. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $232.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley set a $255.00 price target on shares of Cardinal Health in a research report on Friday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Cardinal Health from $209.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Cardinal Health from $220.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group set a $260.00 target price on Cardinal Health and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $245.19.

Cardinal Health Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CAH opened at $220.72 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $208.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $182.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.94 billion, a PE ratio of 31.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.64. Cardinal Health has a 12 month low of $120.72 and a 12 month high of $230.81.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $65.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.88 billion. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 92.50% and a net margin of 0.68%.The company’s revenue was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.93 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Cardinal Health will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cardinal Health

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CAH. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Cardinal Health by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 9,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,902,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. HF Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 5,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,074,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,184,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR grew its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR raised its stake in Cardinal Health by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 5,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,223,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Cardinal Health

Here are the key news stories impacting Cardinal Health this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Recent quarterly results and underlying strength — Cardinal reported a Q4 EPS beat and revenue above expectations, with revenue up ~19% year-over-year, which analysts cite as supporting the stock’s upside. Cardinal Health’s (NYSE:CAH) Solid Earnings Are Supported By Other Strong Factors
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend confirmed — the Board approved a quarterly dividend of $0.5107 per share (payable Apr 15; record Apr 1). The cash return reinforces income appeal and signals confidence in cash flow. Cardinal Health Board of Directors Approves Quarterly Dividend
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst lift — JPMorgan raised its price target to $243, providing a tangible upside anchor for investors and helping sentiment. JPMorgan Chase Increases Cardinal Health Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks momentum & valuation coverage — CAH was added to Zacks’ Rank #1 momentum list and several Zacks pieces highlight undervaluation and a favorable long-term value case, which can attract momentum and value investors. Best Momentum Stock to Buy for February 13th Are Investors Undervaluing Cardinal Health?
• Neutral Sentiment: Kalkine notes logistics/reliability improvements on the NYSE composite — operational reliability updates are constructive but are incremental near-term drivers. Cardinal Health Boosts Logistics Reliability
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst Q&A from the earnings call — the transcript highlights management’s priorities and risk items; useful for longer-term fundamental assessment but not an immediate catalyst. The 5 Most Interesting Analyst Questions From Cardinal Health’s Q4 Earnings Call

Cardinal Health Company Profile

Cardinal Health is a multinational healthcare services and products company headquartered in Dublin, Ohio. Tracing its roots to the early 1970s, the company has grown into a major provider of supply chain and distribution services for the healthcare sector. Cardinal Health operates across a range of service lines that support hospitals, health systems, pharmacies, physician offices and clinical laboratories.

The company’s core activities include the wholesale distribution of branded and generic pharmaceuticals, the supply and distribution of medical-surgical products, and the provision of logistics and inventory management solutions.