Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $165.9333.

A number of research firms have recently commented on CAH. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Cardinal Health in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Cardinal Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $150.00 target price on shares of Cardinal Health in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Leerink Partners reduced their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $188.00 to $186.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jessica L. Mayer sold 38,078 shares of Cardinal Health stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.82, for a total value of $5,666,767.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 48,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,211,370.74. The trade was a 44.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ola M. Snow sold 28,151 shares of Cardinal Health stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.94, for a total transaction of $4,192,809.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 15,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,298,293.14. This trade represents a 64.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 271,676 shares of company stock valued at $40,489,525. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cardinal Health

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CAH. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 687.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 134,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,961,000 after buying an additional 117,803 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 18.6% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $235,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Cardinal Health by 17,589.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 964,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,940,000 after purchasing an additional 959,486 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Cardinal Health by 9.0% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Cardinal Health by 8.0% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Cardinal Health Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of CAH stock opened at $154.50 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $36.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.71. Cardinal Health has a fifty-two week low of $106.98 and a fifty-two week high of $168.44. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $152.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $150.25.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.05. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.70% and a negative return on equity of 74.45%. The firm had revenue of $60.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. Cardinal Health’s revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Cardinal Health has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.300-9.500 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Cardinal Health will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $0.5107 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 1st. Cardinal Health’s payout ratio is presently 31.63%.

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.