Legal & General Group Plc Sells 211,202 Shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. $CAH

Legal & General Group Plc cut its position in shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,138,565 shares of the company’s stock after selling 211,202 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Cardinal Health were worth $335,669,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its position in Cardinal Health by 1,363.6% in the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 161 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Cardinal Health by 198.3% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 21,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 14,034 shares during the last quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC grew its position in Cardinal Health by 5,200.0% during the third quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 55.0% during the second quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cardinal Health during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cardinal Health Stock Performance

Shares of Cardinal Health stock opened at $215.23 on Thursday. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a 52-week low of $120.72 and a 52-week high of $233.60. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $216.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $191.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.65.

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

Cardinal Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.5107 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 1st. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio is 29.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CAH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $209.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird set a $252.00 price target on shares of Cardinal Health in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $222.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Barclays raised their price objective on Cardinal Health from $243.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on Cardinal Health from $232.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $245.67.

About Cardinal Health

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.