Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) Reaches New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $101.00 to $112.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Cardinal Health traded as high as $105.81 and last traded at $105.42, with a volume of 1465893 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $103.39.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on CAH. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $107.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 16th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Cardinal Health in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 16th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Cardinal Health from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Cardinal Health from $100.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cardinal Health news, CEO Deborah Weitzman sold 6,712 shares of Cardinal Health stock in a transaction on Monday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.81, for a total value of $602,804.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 44,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,969,781.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cardinal Health

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gradient Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 106.7% in the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 277 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 59.8% in the 2nd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 294 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Cardinal Health in the second quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Cardinal Health during the second quarter worth $31,000. 86.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cardinal Health Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $25.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 170.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $93.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $90.52.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 3rd. The company reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $54.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $54.85 billion. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.07% and a negative return on equity of 60.27%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 6.9 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 Monday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.5006 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 29th. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 327.87%.

Cardinal Health Company Profile

Cardinal Health, Inc operates as a healthcare services and products company in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and internationally. It provides customized solutions for hospitals, healthcare systems, pharmacies, ambulatory surgery centers, clinical laboratories, physician offices, and patients in the home.