Axa S.A. Acquires 173,250 Shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)

AXA S.A. grew its stake in shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH - Free Report) by 47.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 535,739 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 173,250 shares during the quarter. AXA S.A. owned approximately 0.22% of Cardinal Health worth $63,362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC bought a new position in Cardinal Health in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in Cardinal Health in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Cardinal Health during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in Cardinal Health during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Cardinal Health in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAH has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Cardinal Health from $142.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Cardinal Health from $135.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $156.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $142.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Cardinal Health in a research report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $146.43.

Cardinal Health Stock Down 0.1 %

CAH stock traded down $0.19 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $151.80. The stock had a trading volume of 2,056,713 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,196,065. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a one year low of $93.17 and a one year high of $154.10. The company's 50 day moving average is $132.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $125.44. The company has a market capitalization of $36.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.66.

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

Cardinal Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be issued a $0.5107 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 1st. This is a boost from Cardinal Health's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. Cardinal Health's payout ratio is 31.51%.

About Cardinal Health

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.