Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $241.86 and last traded at $234.5040, with a volume of 89966 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $238.94.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cardinal Health from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Evercore reduced their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $260.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $243.00 to $215.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Cardinal Health from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $251.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cardinal Health has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $247.80.

Cardinal Health Stock Down 1.5%

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $208.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $211.78. The stock has a market cap of $55.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.49.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $3.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.79 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $60.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.10 billion. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 92.61% and a net margin of 0.62%.Cardinal Health’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.35 earnings per share. Cardinal Health has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.700-10.80 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 10.76 EPS for the current year.

Cardinal Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be paid a $0.5158 dividend. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. This is a positive change from Cardinal Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 1st. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.50%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAH. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $790,344,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Cardinal Health by 153.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,804,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $911,010,000 after purchasing an additional 3,511,579 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP raised its holdings in Cardinal Health by 141.4% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,926,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,332,000 after purchasing an additional 1,128,358 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Cardinal Health by 1,328.1% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 951,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $195,484,000 after purchasing an additional 884,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Cardinal Health by 7,053.4% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 750,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $158,491,000 after purchasing an additional 739,553 shares in the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.