Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) Shares Acquired by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) by 6.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 151,185 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,385 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.06% of Cardinal Health worth $16,918,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAH. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,177,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,566,913,000 after purchasing an additional 627,253 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Cardinal Health by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,749,859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $633,298,000 after buying an additional 42,082 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Cardinal Health by 4.7% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,290,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $474,203,000 after buying an additional 191,568 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Cardinal Health by 5.1% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,759,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,974,000 after buying an additional 85,247 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 7.1% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,683,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,517,000 after acquiring an additional 111,137 shares during the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Cardinal Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Cardinal Health from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $101.00 to $127.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Argus boosted their price objective on Cardinal Health from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. UBS Group increased their target price on Cardinal Health from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Cardinal Health from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cardinal Health has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $127.50.

Cardinal Health Stock Performance

CAH stock opened at $118.28 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $117.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.61. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $93.17 and a fifty-two week high of $126.23.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $52.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.90 billion. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.56% and a negative return on equity of 56.56%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.73 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.5056 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.30%.

Cardinal Health 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.