Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) Sets New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $157.82 and last traded at $155.21, with a volume of 279512 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $155.25.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Cardinal Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $140.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Cardinal Health from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Cardinal Health from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $136.00 to $179.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Cardinal Health in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Cardinal Health from $156.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.50.

Cardinal Health Trading Down 0.8%

The company has a market cap of $36.80 billion, a PE ratio of 28.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $142.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $130.95.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $54.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.33 billion. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 59.57% and a net margin of 0.59%. The company’s revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.08 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Cardinal Health Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.5107 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 1st. This is a boost from Cardinal Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.83%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cardinal Health

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAH. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 1,666.7% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,384,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $328,470,000 after purchasing an additional 2,249,241 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $246,748,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 154.6% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,151,736 shares of the company’s stock valued at $372,756,000 after purchasing an additional 1,913,892 shares during the period. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $141,963,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 40.0% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,175,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $575,327,000 after purchasing an additional 1,193,983 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.