Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on CAH. Zacks Research cut shares of Cardinal Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Cardinal Health in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $276.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Cardinal Health from $251.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. UBS Group raised their price target on Cardinal Health from $274.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Cardinal Health from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $266.56.

Cardinal Health Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Cardinal Health stock opened at $225.66 on Friday. Cardinal Health has a 1 year low of $145.87 and a 1 year high of $258.30. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $233.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $219.79. The company has a market cap of $52.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.21, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.51.

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

Cardinal Health Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Deborah Weitzman sold 7,354 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 77,901 shares in the company, valued at $18,341,790.45. This trade represents a 8.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jason Hollar sold 44,529 shares of Cardinal Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.18, for a total transaction of $10,516,859.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 190,603 shares in the company, valued at $45,016,616.54. The trade was a 18.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 210,271 shares of company stock worth $49,626,657 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cardinal Health

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CAH. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Cardinal Health during the 2nd quarter valued at about $308,640,000. First Nebraska Trust Co bought a new stake in Cardinal Health during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $20,050,000. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Cardinal Health during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,177,000. Stack Financial Management Inc bought a new position in Cardinal Health in the second quarter valued at approximately $24,681,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Cardinal Health by 52.9% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 33,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,172,000 after buying an additional 11,740 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

About Cardinal Health

Cardinal Health, Inc is a healthcare services and products company that supports the pharmaceutical and medical industries. Its Pharmaceutical and Specialty Solutions segment distributes branded, generic and specialty pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter products and consumer health items to pharmacies, hospitals, health systems and other healthcare providers. The segment also provides specialty pharmaceutical services, nuclear and radiopharmaceutical products, and related support for manufacturers and providers.

Through its Global Medical Products and Distribution segment, Cardinal Health manufactures, sources and distributes medical and surgical products, including gloves, gowns, syringes, exam-room supplies and other essential equipment.