Erste Asset Management GmbH Reduces Stock Holdings in Cardinal Health, Inc. $CAH

Erste Asset Management GmbH lessened its stake in shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) by 64.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,720 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,993 shares during the quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Cardinal Health were worth $420,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CAH. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 0.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,823,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,838,054,000 after acquiring an additional 247,667 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Cardinal Health by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,389,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,069,005,000 after purchasing an additional 205,539 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Cardinal Health in the second quarter worth about $584,420,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Cardinal Health by 7.3% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,037,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $510,347,000 after purchasing an additional 207,750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 2.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,349,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $394,761,000 after buying an additional 45,812 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cardinal Health Trading Up 0.8%

CAH opened at $228.85 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $53.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.93, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.65. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a 12-month low of $120.72 and a 12-month high of $230.81. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $214.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $187.49.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.32. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.68% and a negative return on equity of 92.50%. The company had revenue of $65.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Cardinal Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.5107 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Cardinal Health from $220.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Mizuho increased their target price on Cardinal Health from $222.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Cardinal Health from $209.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $243.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Evercore lifted their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $250.00 to $260.00 in a report on Friday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cardinal Health presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $245.20.

Cardinal Health Profile

Cardinal Health is a multinational healthcare services and products company headquartered in Dublin, Ohio. Tracing its roots to the early 1970s, the company has grown into a major provider of supply chain and distribution services for the healthcare sector. Cardinal Health operates across a range of service lines that support hospitals, health systems, pharmacies, physician offices and clinical laboratories.

The company’s core activities include the wholesale distribution of branded and generic pharmaceuticals, the supply and distribution of medical-surgical products, and the provision of logistics and inventory management solutions.