Gradient Investments LLC Sells 11,642 Shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)

Gradient Investments LLC lessened its stake in shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) by 9.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 117,446 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,642 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Cardinal Health were worth $13,890,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Cardinal Health by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,749,859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $633,298,000 after purchasing an additional 42,082 shares in the last quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp raised its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 240,422 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,435,000 after buying an additional 3,576 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,474,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,976,000 after buying an additional 33,388 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $371,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in Cardinal Health in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,691,000. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cardinal Health Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE CAH opened at $128.89 on Friday. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a 12 month low of $93.17 and a 12 month high of $129.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.19 billion, a PE ratio of 25.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.63. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $121.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $112.92.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $52.28 billion during 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 revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.73 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.5056 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI upgraded Cardinal Health from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Cardinal Health from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $101.00 to $127.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays boosted their target price on Cardinal Health from $117.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cardinal Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cardinal Health currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.64.

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.