J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Cuts Holdings in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. cut its stake in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) by 63.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,332 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,025 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Cardinal Health were worth $229,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd raised its position in Cardinal Health by 10.2% in the second quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 49,221 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,839,000 after purchasing an additional 4,541 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Cardinal Health in the second quarter valued at about $2,091,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in Cardinal Health by 7.6% in the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 35,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,459,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in Cardinal Health by 28.7% in the second quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 47,571.4% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,033 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,953,000 after acquiring an additional 29,970 shares during the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cardinal Health news, insider Jessica L. Mayer sold 17,896 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.48, for a total value of $1,905,566.08. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 94,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,065,447.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Cardinal Health news, insider Jessica L. Mayer sold 17,896 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.48, for a total value of $1,905,566.08. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 94,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,065,447.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Michelle D. Greene sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.85, for a total value of $435,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,242 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,094,491.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,963 shares of company stock valued at $12,379,980 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Cardinal Health Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE CAH opened at $111.40 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $104.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $104.02. The company has a market cap of $27.13 billion, a PE ratio of 49.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.60. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a 12-month low of $85.82 and a 12-month high of $116.05.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.10. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 54.85% and a net margin of 0.37%. The firm had revenue of $59.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.506 per share. This is a boost from Cardinal Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $2.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. Cardinal Health’s payout ratio is presently 89.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Cardinal Health from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Cardinal Health from $115.00 to $107.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Cardinal Health from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Cardinal Health from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Cardinal Health from $114.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Cardinal Health has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $119.36.

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.