Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on CAH. Robert W. Baird set a $252.00 price objective on shares of Cardinal Health in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Cardinal Health from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $190.00 to $244.00 in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Leerink Partners reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $275.00 price objective on shares of Cardinal Health in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $232.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective 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. One research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $245.67.

Cardinal Health Trading Down 0.8%

Cardinal Health stock opened at $212.44 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $217.67 and a 200 day moving average of $199.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.64. Cardinal Health has a 12-month low of $120.72 and a 12-month high of $233.60.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.93 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Cardinal Health will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Cardinal Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.5107 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.35%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position 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 buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Cardinal Health by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 5,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,074,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Cardinal Health by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,184,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR lifted its position in Cardinal Health by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 513 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR lifted its position in Cardinal Health by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 5,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,223,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.