Empowered Funds LLC Boosts Stake in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)

Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) by 9.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 80,878 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,947 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Cardinal Health were worth $9,050,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CAH. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 601.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 81,965 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,116,000 after acquiring an additional 70,285 shares during the period. Comerica Bank grew its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 365.6% in the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 109,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,469,000 after buying an additional 85,638 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 27,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,375,000 after buying an additional 2,972 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $258,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 64.9% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,027,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,222,000 after buying an additional 404,609 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Argus cut their price target on Cardinal Health from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Cardinal Health from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Cardinal Health from $129.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Cardinal Health from $96.00 to $94.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Cardinal Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cardinal Health presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.00.

Cardinal Health Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CAH traded down $0.36 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $94.10. 1,891,046 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,099,865. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $98.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $104.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.84, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.61. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a one year low of $85.11 and a one year high of $116.04.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $54.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $56.05 billion. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 54.74% and a net margin of 0.25%. The company’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 1st will be given a dividend of $0.5056 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 1st. This is an increase from Cardinal Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. Cardinal Health’s payout ratio is 89.78%.

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.