California Public Employees Retirement System Buys 823,520 Shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)

California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) by 118.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,516,035 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 823,520 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.62% of Cardinal Health worth $152,816,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Cardinal Health in the third quarter worth about $26,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Cardinal Health during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Cardinal Health during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Cardinal Health during the 3rd quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Cardinal Health during the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cardinal Health Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of Cardinal Health stock traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $102.78. The company had a trading volume of 581,032 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,251,857. The stock has a market cap of $25.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.48, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $109.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $104.50. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.56 and a 12-month high of $116.04.

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

Cardinal Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 1st were issued a $0.5006 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on CAH shares. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Argus upgraded shares of Cardinal Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Cardinal Health in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $117.00 price target for the company. SVB Leerink started coverage on shares of Cardinal Health in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. Finally, Leerink Partnrs reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Cardinal Health in a research report on Monday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.07.

Cardinal Health Company Profile

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.