Pensionfund Sabic Boosts Stake in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)

Pensionfund Sabic raised its stake in shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) by 42.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,200 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,200 shares during the quarter. Pensionfund Sabic’s holdings in Cardinal Health were worth $1,679,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 22,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,659,000 after acquiring an additional 1,259 shares during the last quarter. First City Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Cardinal Health in the 4th quarter valued at about $209,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 19.2% during the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,423,000 after purchasing an additional 1,940 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 53.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $645,000 after buying an additional 1,898 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cardinal Health in the third quarter valued at approximately $507,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CAH shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $117.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Cardinal Health from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Cardinal Health from $127.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Cardinal Health from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Cardinal Health from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $132.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.85.

Cardinal Health Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CAH traded up $2.13 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $121.43. 200,504 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,102,979. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a twelve month low of $93.17 and a twelve month high of $126.23. The company has a market cap of $29.39 billion, a PE ratio of 23.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $118.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $110.45.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $52.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.90 billion. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 56.56% and a net margin of 0.56%. The company’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.73 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.5056 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.67%. Cardinal Health’s payout ratio is currently 39.30%.

Cardinal Health Company Profile

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.