Candriam S.C.A. Purchases 2,782 Shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)

Candriam S.C.A. grew its stake in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) by 13.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,827 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,782 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Cardinal Health were worth $2,818,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 4.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,177,641 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,566,913,000 after acquiring an additional 627,253 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,749,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $633,298,000 after buying an additional 42,082 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,519,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $179,653,000 after buying an additional 44,386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 47.9% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,069,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,197,000 after buying an additional 346,362 shares during the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cardinal Health Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of CAH stock opened at $126.40 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $125.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $118.88. The firm has a market cap of $30.53 billion, a PE ratio of 23.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.66. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a 12 month low of $93.17 and a 12 month high of $132.84.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.19. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.59% and a negative return on equity of 59.57%. On average, equities analysts predict that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a $0.5056 dividend. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CAH. Argus set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Cardinal Health in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Cardinal Health from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $136.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $120.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Cardinal Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $130.00 to $144.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $139.36.

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.