Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Argus set a $189.00 target price on shares of Cardinal Health in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $220.00 target price on shares of Cardinal Health and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Cardinal Health from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Cardinal Health from $185.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.00.

Cardinal Health Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of NYSE CAH opened at $203.40 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $160.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $156.71. Cardinal Health has a 1-year low of $114.60 and a 1-year high of $203.67. The firm has a market cap of $48.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.72.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $64.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.41 billion. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 74.45% and a net margin of 0.70%.The business’s revenue was up 22.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. Cardinal Health has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.650-9.850 EPS. Analysts forecast that Cardinal Health will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Cardinal Health Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Cardinal Health

In related news, insider Michelle D. Greene sold 13,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.82, for a total value of $2,009,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 14,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,228,728.32. The trade was a 47.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jason M. Hollar sold 35,901 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.04, for a total value of $5,386,586.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 200,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,008,000. This represents a 15.22% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 271,676 shares of company stock worth $40,489,525 in the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cardinal Health

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CAH. Latitude Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 2,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $408,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in Cardinal Health by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. WESPAC Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Cardinal Health by 1.0% in the third quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 6,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,043,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Cardinal Health by 1.6% during the third quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 4,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $642,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 0.4% during the second quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 17,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,991,000 after buying an additional 69 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.