Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) Rating Lowered to Buy at StockNews.com

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on CAH. Leerink Partnrs reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Cardinal Health in a research note on Monday, February 26th. TheStreet downgraded Cardinal Health from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 27th. Barclays began coverage on Cardinal Health in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $117.00 price target for the company. Argus upgraded Cardinal Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Cardinal Health from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cardinal Health presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.07.

Cardinal Health Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CAH opened at $103.81 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.25 billion, a PE ratio of 40.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.68. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $109.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $104.58. Cardinal Health has a 1 year low of $77.56 and a 1 year high of $116.04.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $57.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $57.02 billion. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 57.44% and a net margin of 0.30%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.32 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cardinal Health will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Cardinal Health

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 82.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,128,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,390,000 after acquiring an additional 1,862,291 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,340,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $290,026,000 after acquiring an additional 28,412 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,619,561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $264,052,000 after acquiring an additional 389,431 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health in the 4th quarter valued at about $258,499,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,496,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $216,749,000 after purchasing an additional 19,287 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

About Cardinal Health

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.