First Trust Advisors LP Reduces Holdings in Cardinal Health, Inc. $CAH

First Trust Advisors LP lowered its position in shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) by 3.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 560,151 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,641 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Cardinal Health were worth $87,921,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its position in Cardinal Health by 1,363.6% during the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 161 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 55.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. American Capital Advisory LLC raised its position in Cardinal Health by 5,200.0% in the 3rd quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Cardinal Health in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Cardinal Health during the 2nd quarter worth $41,000. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $233.00 to $251.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Cardinal Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley set a $255.00 price target on Cardinal Health in a report on Friday, February 6th. Barclays boosted their price target on Cardinal Health from $243.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, UBS Group set a $260.00 price objective on Cardinal Health and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s 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 Stock Performance

Shares of Cardinal Health stock opened at $222.30 on Tuesday. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a one year low of $120.72 and a one year high of $233.60. The company has a market cap of $52.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.99, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $215.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $190.54.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.32. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.68% and a negative return on equity of 92.50%. The business had revenue of $65.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.93 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Cardinal Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.5107 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 1st. Cardinal Health’s payout ratio is currently 29.35%.

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.