Ethic Inc. Has $1.40 Million Position in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)

Ethic Inc. grew its position in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH - Free Report) by 20.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,835 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 2,031 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Cardinal Health were worth $1,400,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fred Alger Management LLC raised its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 50.5% in the fourth quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 46,743 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,528,000 after buying an additional 15,691 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in Cardinal Health by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,087,512 shares of the company's stock valued at $128,620,000 after acquiring an additional 158,779 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Cardinal Health by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,338 shares of the company's stock valued at $631,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 25,785 shares of the company's stock worth $3,050,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Select Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health during the fourth quarter worth $1,426,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company's stock.

Cardinal Health Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of CAH traded up $2.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $154.23. 2,804,902 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,228,743. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $136.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $127.35. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a 12-month low of $93.17 and a 12-month high of $154.69. The firm has a market cap of $36.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.77, 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.20. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.59% and a negative return on equity of 59.57%. The firm had revenue of $54.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.08 EPS. The firm's revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be issued 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Cardinal Health's dividend payout ratio is 31.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho upped their target price on Cardinal Health from $142.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $142.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Cardinal Health from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $150.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cardinal Health from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $146.43.

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.