Brandes Investment Partners LP Acquires 121,107 Shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)

Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its stake in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) by 10.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,315,316 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 121,107 shares during the quarter. Cardinal Health makes up approximately 1.6% of Brandes Investment Partners LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Brandes Investment Partners LP owned 0.54% of Cardinal Health worth $129,439,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Cardinal Health by 9.9% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,099,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $403,022,000 after buying an additional 370,181 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in Cardinal Health by 19.1% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,723,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $416,585,000 after purchasing an additional 598,002 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 0.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,730,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $305,584,000 after purchasing an additional 14,030 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 5.1% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,759,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,974,000 after buying an additional 85,247 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Cardinal Health by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,683,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,517,000 after buying an additional 111,137 shares during the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on CAH. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Cardinal Health from $114.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Cardinal Health from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group increased their price target on Cardinal Health from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Cardinal Health from $130.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $119.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jessica L. Mayer sold 17,896 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.48, for a total transaction of $1,905,566.08. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 94,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,065,447.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jessica L. Mayer sold 17,896 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.48, for a total transaction of $1,905,566.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 94,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,065,447.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jason M. Hollar sold 26,716 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.87, for a total transaction of $2,908,570.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 244,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,574,187.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 113,963 shares of company stock worth $12,379,980. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Cardinal Health Stock Performance

Cardinal Health stock opened at $109.79 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.80, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.60. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a 52-week low of $85.82 and a 52-week high of $116.05. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $107.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $103.85.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.10. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.37% and a negative return on equity of 54.85%. The business had revenue of $59.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. Cardinal Health’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

Cardinal Health Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.506 per share. This is an increase from Cardinal Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio is 89.78%.

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.