Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Has $3.48 Million Stake in Cardinal Health, Inc. $CAH

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) by 24.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,196 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,391 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Cardinal Health were worth $3,484,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CAH. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Cardinal Health in the 2nd quarter worth about $584,420,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 92.5% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,679,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $282,063,000 after purchasing an additional 807,063 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 476.8% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 883,348 shares of the company’s stock worth $148,402,000 after purchasing an additional 730,209 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its position in Cardinal Health by 298.3% during the third quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 821,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,978,000 after purchasing an additional 615,398 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its stake in Cardinal Health by 237.6% in the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 680,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,760,000 after buying an additional 478,689 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays started coverage on shares of Cardinal Health in a research note on Monday, December 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $243.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Cardinal Health from $220.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Argus upped their target price on Cardinal Health from $232.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $255.00 price target on Cardinal Health in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Cardinal Health from $222.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $244.20.

Cardinal Health Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of CAH stock opened at $224.22 on Friday. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a 12 month low of $120.72 and a 12 month high of $230.81. The company has a market cap of $52.76 billion, a PE ratio of 32.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s 50 day moving average is $211.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $184.69.

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

Cardinal Health Announces Dividend

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

Cardinal Health Company 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.