Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Cardinal Health, Inc. has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from 15 research firms, with an average 12-month price target of $166.00.
• The company recently reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and has set FY 2026 guidance of 9.300-9.500 EPS.
• Dividends were recently announced at $0.5107 per share, yielding 1.3%, with an overall payout ratio of 31.63%.

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $166.00.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CAH. Argus set a $189.00 target price on Cardinal Health in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $185.00 price objective (up previously from $183.00) on shares of Cardinal Health in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $150.00 target price on shares of Cardinal Health in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Leerink Partners raised their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, October 6th.

Cardinal Health Trading Down 0.2%

CAH stock opened at $159.21 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $152.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $152.43. The company has a market capitalization of $37.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.71. Cardinal Health has a 52 week low of $106.98 and a 52 week high of $168.44.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.05. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.70% and a negative return on equity of 74.45%. The business had revenue of $60.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.84 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. Cardinal Health has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.300-9.500 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Cardinal Health will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Cardinal Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st were issued a dividend of $0.5107 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 1st. Cardinal Health's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cardinal Health news, CEO Stephen M. Mason sold 41,575 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.82, for a total value of $6,187,191.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,085 shares in the company, valued at $3,881,969.70. This trade represents a 61.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ola M. Snow sold 28,151 shares of Cardinal Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.94, for a total transaction of $4,192,809.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,298,293.14. This trade represents a 64.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 271,676 shares of company stock worth $40,489,525 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cardinal Health

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAH. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Cardinal Health by 3.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,389,049 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,069,005,000 after buying an additional 205,539 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Cardinal Health by 40.0% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,175,992 shares of the company's stock valued at $575,327,000 after acquiring an additional 1,193,983 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Cardinal Health in the 2nd quarter valued at about $584,420,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 3.5% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,143,003 shares of the company's stock worth $433,012,000 after purchasing an additional 105,154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 7.3% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,037,782 shares of the company's stock worth $510,347,000 after purchasing an additional 207,750 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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