Merit Financial Group LLC Buys Shares of 3,660 Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)

Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 3,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $433,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CAH. Eastern Bank bought a new position in Cardinal Health during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 69.8% during the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 253 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Cardinal Health during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Cardinal Health in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Cardinal Health during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,000. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CAH shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of Cardinal Health from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $132.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Cardinal Health from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $101.00 to $127.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Cardinal Health from $120.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Evercore ISI raised Cardinal Health from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Cardinal Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $130.00 to $144.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cardinal Health has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.29.

Cardinal Health Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of CAH opened at $129.38 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $31.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.17, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.63. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $121.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $112.70. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a 1-year low of $93.17 and a 1-year high of $129.68.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $52.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.90 billion. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.56% and a negative return on equity of 56.56%. The company’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.73 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Cardinal Health Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a $0.5056 dividend. This represents a $2.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.30%.

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.