Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH - Free Report) by 97.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,796 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,877 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Cardinal Health were worth $449,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Cardinal Health during the fourth quarter valued at $246,748,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Cardinal Health by 154.6% during 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 in the last quarter. 8 Knots Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health in the fourth quarter worth $62,476,000. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 1,142.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 545,313 shares of the company's stock valued at $64,494,000 after buying an additional 501,421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,037,849 shares of the company's stock valued at $359,286,000 after acquiring an additional 422,755 shares in the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Cardinal Health from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday. TD Cowen upgraded Cardinal Health from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $130.00 to $144.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $156.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Argus set a $148.00 target price on shares of Cardinal Health in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $146.43.

Cardinal Health Stock Up 1.3 %

CAH opened at $153.68 on Thursday. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a 52-week low of $93.17 and a 52-week high of $153.74. The company has a market cap of $36.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.67, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.66. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $133.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $125.81.

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

Cardinal Health Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be given a $0.5107 dividend. This is a positive change from Cardinal Health's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. Cardinal Health's payout ratio is presently 31.51%.

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.

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