Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) Stock Moved Down to “Buy” by Wall Street Zen

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

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. 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 target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Cardinal Health from $215.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings raised Cardinal Health from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $280.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $267.50.

Cardinal Health Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:CAH opened at $253.86 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.78 billion, a PE ratio of 35.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.50. Cardinal Health has a twelve month low of $152.46 and a twelve month high of $258.30. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $234.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $222.22.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $63.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.08 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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. Analysts anticipate that Cardinal Health will post 12.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st were issued a dividend of $0.5158 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Cardinal Health’s payout ratio is 28.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Mary C. Scherer sold 2,302 shares of Cardinal Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.39, for a total transaction of $546,471.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,811 shares in the company, valued at approximately $667,303.29. This trade represents a 45.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Deborah Weitzman sold 7,354 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.45, for a total value of $1,731,499.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 77,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,341,790.45. The trade was a 8.63% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 210,271 shares of company stock valued at $49,626,657 in the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cardinal Health

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Cardinal Health in the second quarter valued at $6,293,115,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Cardinal Health by 247.5% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,860,271 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,530,206,000 after buying an additional 10,584,119 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Cardinal Health in the second quarter valued at $689,066,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Cardinal Health in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $438,870,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health during the second quarter worth about $308,640,000. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cardinal Health Company Profile

Cardinal Health, Inc is a healthcare services and products company that supports pharmacies, hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, physician offices and other healthcare providers. Its operations are primarily organized into Pharmaceutical and Medical segments.

The Pharmaceutical segment distributes branded, generic, specialty and over-the-counter medicines, as well as consumer health products. It also provides services related to specialty pharmaceuticals, pharmaceutical sourcing, nuclear and precision health products, and data and analytics for pharmaceutical manufacturers and healthcare organizations.

The Medical segment distributes medical and surgical products, including gloves, apparel, incontinence supplies, laboratory products and other essential items.