Orca Investment Management LLC Buys New Position in Cardinal Health, Inc. $CAH

Orca Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 28,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,664,000. Cardinal Health accounts for about 4.8% of Orca Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health in the 4th quarter valued at $790,344,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Cardinal Health by 153.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,804,090 shares of the company’s stock worth $911,010,000 after buying an additional 3,511,579 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake 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 buying an additional 884,648 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Cardinal Health by 7,053.4% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 750,038 shares of the company’s stock valued at $158,491,000 after buying an additional 739,553 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Cardinal Health by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,441,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,461,179,000 after buying an additional 617,775 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen increased their price target on Cardinal Health from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. William Blair initiated coverage on Cardinal Health in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded Cardinal Health from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Leerink Partners set a $292.00 target price on Cardinal Health in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Cardinal Health in a research note on Wednesday. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $265.93.

Cardinal Health Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE CAH opened at $234.92 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $54.64 billion, a PE ratio of 32.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $230.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $217.14. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a 12-month low of $145.87 and a 12-month high of $258.30.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.67% and a negative return on equity of 98.53%. The firm had revenue of $63.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.08 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Cardinal Health has set its FY 2027 guidance at 12.400-12.600 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 12.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Cardinal Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st will be given a $0.5158 dividend. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. Cardinal Health’s payout ratio is presently 28.49%.

Cardinal Health 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.