Czech National Bank Raises Stock Position in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)

Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) by 7.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 49,673 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,259 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Cardinal Health were worth $5,490,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CAH. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Cardinal Health during the second quarter valued at about $90,440,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 19.1% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,723,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $416,585,000 after purchasing an additional 598,002 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Cardinal Health during the first quarter valued at about $56,454,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 265.6% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 657,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,577,000 after purchasing an additional 477,682 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Cardinal Health during the first quarter valued at about $48,673,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on CAH shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Cardinal Health from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Cardinal Health from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Cardinal Health from $130.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. StockNews.com upgraded Cardinal Health from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, July 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cardinal Health currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $119.36.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Aaron E. Alt sold 2,323 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.91, for a total transaction of $252,997.93. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 36,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,015,184.97. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Aaron E. Alt sold 2,323 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.91, for a total transaction of $252,997.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 36,867 shares in the company, valued at $4,015,184.97. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jason M. Hollar sold 46,455 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.02, for a total transaction of $5,064,524.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 197,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,546,276.72. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 113,963 shares of company stock valued at $12,379,980 over the last ninety days. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Cardinal Health Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CAH opened at $111.98 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $108.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $103.96. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a 1 year low of $89.00 and a 1 year high of $116.05. The company has a market cap of $27.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.77, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.60.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $59.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.74 billion. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.37% and a negative return on equity of 54.85%. The company’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

Cardinal Health Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a $0.506 dividend. This is a positive change 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. Cardinal Health’s payout ratio is currently 89.78%.

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.