Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nineteen analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and sixteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $266.5625.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CAH. Bank of America increased their price target on Cardinal Health from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Cardinal Health in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Zacks Research downgraded Cardinal Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Leerink Partners set a $292.00 target price on Cardinal Health in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Cardinal Health in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $276.00 target price on the stock.

Cardinal Health Price Performance

Shares of CAH opened at $238.61 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $232.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $218.25. Cardinal Health has a 12-month low of $145.87 and a 12-month high of $258.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.50 billion, a PE ratio of 33.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.49.

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 firm 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 was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.08 earnings per share. Cardinal Health has set its FY 2027 guidance at 12.400-12.600 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Cardinal Health will post 12.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.5158 per share. 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%.

Insider Transactions at Cardinal Health

In other Cardinal Health news, CEO Jason M. Hollar sold 80,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.74, for a total value of $18,859,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 235,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,430,017.68. This trade represents a 25.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Stephen M. Mason sold 35,000 shares of Cardinal Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.40, for a total value of $8,274,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 18,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,269,620.40. This trade represents a 65.96% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 210,271 shares of company stock worth $49,626,657 in the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cardinal Health

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAH. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 18.6% in the second quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 93,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,306,000 after purchasing an additional 14,750 shares in the last quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC raised its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 430.2% during the second quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC now owns 3,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $822,000 after purchasing an additional 2,809 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 22,881.2% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 85,193,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,238,631,000 after purchasing an additional 84,823,056 shares in the last quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Cardinal Health by 437.7% in the second quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 6,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,437,000 after purchasing an additional 4,924 shares during the period. Finally, Saudi Central Bank lifted its holdings in Cardinal Health by 87.8% in the second quarter. Saudi Central Bank now owns 16,472 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,913,000 after purchasing an additional 7,702 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

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.