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

Shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $209.00.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group set a $220.00 price target on shares of Cardinal Health and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $185.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Argus raised their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $189.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Leerink Partners lifted their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $211.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Cardinal Health from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st.

Cardinal Health Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CAH opened at $202.80 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $48.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.59, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.63. Cardinal Health has a 12 month low of $116.03 and a 12 month high of $214.93. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $191.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $168.19.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.33. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 84.37% and a net margin of 0.68%.The firm had revenue of $64.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.41 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.4% on a year-over-year basis. Cardinal Health has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.650-9.850 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Cardinal Health will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Cardinal Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.5107 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 2nd. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.77%.

Institutional Trading of Cardinal Health

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 153.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,804,090 shares of the company’s stock worth $911,010,000 after acquiring an additional 3,511,579 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Cardinal Health in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $584,420,000. Holocene Advisors LP raised its stake in Cardinal Health by 141.4% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,926,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,332,000 after purchasing an additional 1,128,358 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 4,935.9% in the first quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 946,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,434,000 after purchasing an additional 927,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 109.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,584,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,658,000 after buying an additional 827,446 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.