HighTower Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Cardinal Health, Inc. $CAH

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its position in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 66,914 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,957 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Cardinal Health were worth $10,503,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CAH. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in Cardinal Health by 1,363.6% in the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 161 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 55.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC lifted its position in Cardinal Health by 5,200.0% during the 3rd quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the period. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in Cardinal Health by 100.0% during the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 214 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Cardinal Health in the third quarter worth about $35,000. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Argus lifted their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $232.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Cardinal Health from $220.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Leerink Partners increased their target price on Cardinal Health from $240.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Evercore raised their price target on Cardinal Health from $250.00 to $260.00 in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $195.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $244.20.

Cardinal Health Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE CAH opened at $224.22 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $211.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.69. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a 52-week low of $120.72 and a 52-week high of $230.81. The company has a market cap of $52.76 billion, a PE ratio of 32.26, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.64.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.32. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.68% and a negative return on equity of 92.50%. The company had revenue of $65.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.5107 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Cardinal Health’s payout ratio is presently 29.35%.

Cardinal Health Company Profile

Cardinal Health is a multinational healthcare services and products company headquartered in Dublin, Ohio. Tracing its roots to the early 1970s, the company has grown into a major provider of supply chain and distribution services for the healthcare sector. Cardinal Health operates across a range of service lines that support hospitals, health systems, pharmacies, physician offices and clinical laboratories.

The company’s core activities include the wholesale distribution of branded and generic pharmaceuticals, the supply and distribution of medical-surgical products, and the provision of logistics and inventory management solutions.