Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) Upgraded to Buy at TD Cowen

TD Cowen upgraded shares of Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $144.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $130.00.

CAH has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Cardinal Health from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $101.00 to $127.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $127.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Cardinal Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, November 3rd. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $117.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.71.

Cardinal Health Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of CAH stock opened at $122.56 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $119.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $110.76. The stock has a market cap of $29.66 billion, a PE ratio of 23.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.63. Cardinal Health has a 12 month low of $93.17 and a 12 month high of $126.23.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.56% and a negative return on equity of 56.56%. The business had revenue of $52.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.73 earnings per share. Cardinal Health’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cardinal Health will post 7.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a $0.5056 dividend. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.30%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cardinal Health

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Birch Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC now owns 28,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,409,000 after acquiring an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC raised its stake in Cardinal Health by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 19,796 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,341,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in Cardinal Health by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 129,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,263,000 after purchasing an additional 11,847 shares during the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic grew its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 42.0% in the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 14,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,679,000 after buying an additional 4,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 22,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,659,000 after buying an additional 1,259 shares during the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.