Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) Sets New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $221.00 to $237.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Cardinal Health traded as high as $214.93 and last traded at $214.43, with a volume of 103655 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $213.56.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on CAH. Jefferies Financial Group set a $220.00 price objective on Cardinal Health and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Leerink Partners set a $240.00 price target on Cardinal Health in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird set a $250.00 target price on shares of Cardinal Health in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $189.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cardinal Health currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $216.33.

Institutional Trading of Cardinal Health

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in Cardinal Health by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 9,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,902,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Latitude Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 2.1% during the third quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 2,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 38.7% in the fourth quarter. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 190 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. MFA Wealth Services lifted its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Services now owns 2,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $391,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division boosted its holdings in Cardinal Health by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 2,696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $554,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cardinal Health Trading Up 0.7%

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $204.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.05. The company has a market cap of $51.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.65.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.33. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.68% and a negative return on equity of 84.37%. The firm had revenue of $64.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 22.4% on a year-over-year basis. Cardinal Health has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.650-9.850 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd will be paid a $0.5107 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio is 30.77%.

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.