HF Advisory Group LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)

HF Advisory Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) by 12.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,429 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,045 shares during the period. HF Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Cardinal Health were worth $749,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health during the 4th quarter valued at $220,230,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Cardinal Health during the fourth quarter worth $215,893,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 82.2% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,128,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,390,000 after purchasing an additional 1,862,291 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 677.5% in the first quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 1,350,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,986,000 after purchasing an additional 1,177,066 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc boosted its stake in Cardinal Health by 68.3% during the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 1,477,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,591,000 after buying an additional 599,698 shares during the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Cardinal Health from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. SVB Leerink started coverage on Cardinal Health in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $125.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays began coverage on Cardinal Health in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $117.00 price objective on the stock. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Cardinal Health in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Argus raised Cardinal Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three 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 data from MarketBeat, Cardinal Health presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.07.

Cardinal Health Stock Performance

NYSE:CAH traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $106.83. 131,159 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,225,327. The business has a 50-day moving average of $109.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $104.02. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.56 and a 12-month high of $116.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.98 billion, a PE ratio of 41.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.68.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.26. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 57.44% and a net margin of 0.30%. The firm had revenue of $57.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $57.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.32 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Cardinal Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st were paid a dividend of $0.5006 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Cardinal Health’s payout ratio is 78.74%.

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.