Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) Receives $139.36 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $139.36.

Several research firms recently commented on CAH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $142.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $135.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Cardinal Health from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $132.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $136.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Cardinal Health from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th.

Cardinal Health Stock Up 1.5 %

Cardinal Health stock opened at $129.86 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $126.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $119.56. The company has a market capitalization of $31.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.66. Cardinal Health has a twelve month low of $93.17 and a twelve month high of $132.84.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.19. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.59% and a negative return on equity of 59.57%. Equities analysts expect that Cardinal Health will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors 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 yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Cardinal Health’s payout ratio is presently 37.69%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cardinal Health

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Cardinal Health in the 4th quarter worth $246,748,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Cardinal Health by 154.6% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,151,736 shares of the company’s stock worth $372,756,000 after acquiring an additional 1,913,892 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Cardinal Health in the 4th quarter worth $141,963,000. Junto Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Cardinal Health in the 4th quarter worth $92,811,000. Finally, Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in Cardinal Health in the 4th quarter worth $87,144,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

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.