Cardinal Health, Inc. $CAH Shares Sold by California State Teachers Retirement System

California State Teachers Retirement System lowered its position in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) by 2.6% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 370,711 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,726 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Cardinal Health were worth $78,335,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CAH. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in Cardinal Health in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 198.3% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 21,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 14,034 shares in the last quarter. Palladiem LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co purchased a new position in Cardinal Health in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cardinal Health Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:CAH opened at $229.37 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $53.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $221.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $215.01. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a 52 week low of $137.75 and a 52 week high of $243.21.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 0.62% and a negative return on equity of 92.61%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.35 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 10.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 1st were issued a $0.5158 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 1st. This is a positive change from Cardinal Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Cardinal Health’s payout ratio is presently 31.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on CAH. Mizuho boosted their target price on Cardinal Health from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised Cardinal Health from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird set a $248.00 target price on shares of Cardinal Health in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $260.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $251.73.

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.