Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) Hits New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Mizuho raised their price target on the stock from $250.00 to $280.00. Mizuho currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Cardinal Health traded as high as $258.72 and last traded at $257.1660, with a volume of 96,282 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $257.55.

CAH has been the topic of a number of other reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $280.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Cardinal Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Leerink Partners set a $292.00 price target on shares of Cardinal Health in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Cardinal Health from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Sixteen equities research 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $269.38.

Insider Transactions at Cardinal Health

In related news, CEO Jason M. Hollar sold 80,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.74, for a total value of $18,859,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 235,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,430,017.68. The trade was a 25.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Deborah Weitzman sold 7,354 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.45, for a total value of $1,731,499.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 77,901 shares in the company, valued at $18,341,790.45. This trade represents a 8.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 210,271 shares of company stock valued at $49,626,657. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cardinal Health

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Axecap Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health in the third quarter valued at about $2,486,000. Capstone Capital Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Cardinal Health during the 3rd quarter worth about $594,000. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 1,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Cardinal Health by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 99,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,081,000 after purchasing an additional 2,394 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in Cardinal Health by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,130,814 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,606,000 after purchasing an additional 40,905 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cardinal Health Trading Down 0.0%

The stock has a market cap of $59.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $235.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $222.94.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.42 by $0.49. The company had revenue of $63.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.15 billion. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 98.53% and a net margin of 0.67%. Cardinal Health’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.08 earnings per share. Cardinal Health has set its FY 2027 guidance at 12.400-12.600 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 12.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 1st were issued a $0.5158 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.49%.

About Cardinal Health

Cardinal Health, Inc is a healthcare services and products company that supports the distribution and delivery of pharmaceuticals, medical products and related services. The company serves hospitals, pharmacies, ambulatory surgery centers, clinical laboratories, physician offices and other healthcare providers.

Its Pharmaceutical and Specialty Solutions segment distributes branded, generic and specialty pharmaceuticals, as well as consumer health products, to pharmacies and healthcare institutions.