Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Sells 179,510 Shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board decreased its holdings in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) by 35.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 329,218 shares of the company’s stock after selling 179,510 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned about 0.14% of Cardinal Health worth $32,369,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cultivar Capital Inc. bought a new position in Cardinal Health in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 4,466.7% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Cardinal Health during the second quarter worth about $29,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Cardinal Health in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Cardinal Health during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cardinal Health Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE CAH opened at $111.84 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $27.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.60. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a twelve month low of $85.82 and a twelve month high of $116.05. The business’s fifty day moving average is $105.61 and its 200 day moving average is $104.00.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $58.74 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be given a $0.506 dividend. This is a boost from Cardinal Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio is 89.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jessica L. Mayer sold 16,573 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.39, for a total value of $1,812,920.47. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 75,971 shares in the company, valued at $8,310,467.69. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Cardinal Health news, insider Jessica L. Mayer sold 16,573 shares of Cardinal Health stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.39, for a total transaction of $1,812,920.47. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 75,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,310,467.69. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Aaron E. Alt sold 2,323 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.91, for a total value of $252,997.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 36,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,015,184.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 113,963 shares of company stock valued at $12,379,980. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on CAH. Citigroup dropped their price target on Cardinal Health from $115.00 to $107.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $114.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. StockNews.com upgraded Cardinal Health from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on Cardinal Health from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $119.36.

Cardinal Health 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.