Axecap Investments LLC Makes New Investment in Cardinal Health, Inc. $CAH

Key Points

• Axecap Investments LLC initiated a new position in Cardinal Health (CAH), buying 11,540 shares valued at about $2.37 million; CAH represents 1.5% of Axecap's holdings and institutional investors now own roughly 87.17% of the stock.
• Analyst sentiment is positive with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $244.33, supported by several recent upgrades and price-target increases in the $240–$255 range.
• Cardinal Health beat quarterly expectations with $2.63 EPS (vs. $2.31 est.) and 18.8% year-over-year revenue growth, and it pays a quarterly dividend of $0.5107 (annualized $2.04, ~1.0% yield).

Axecap Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 11,540 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,371,000. Cardinal Health makes up 1.5% of Axecap Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Cardinal Health in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,182,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Cardinal Health by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 1,971 shares of the company's stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners increased its stake in Cardinal Health by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 3,039 shares of the company's stock valued at $624,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Cardinal Health by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,441,258 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,461,179,000 after purchasing an additional 617,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its stake in Cardinal Health by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 40,681 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,360,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAH has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Argus increased their price objective on Cardinal Health from $232.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $255.00 price objective on Cardinal Health in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Evercore decreased their price objective on Cardinal Health from $260.00 to $240.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Cardinal Health in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Cardinal Health from $237.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $244.33.

Cardinal Health Price Performance

Shares of CAH opened at $199.74 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $215.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $204.57. The stock has a market cap of $47.00 billion, a PE ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.64. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a 12 month low of $134.76 and a 12 month high of $233.60.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.32. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 92.50% and a net margin of 0.68%.The business had revenue of $65.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.93 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 10.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Cardinal Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st were paid a dividend of $0.5107 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Cardinal Health's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.35%.

Cardinal Health Company Profile

Cardinal Health is a multinational healthcare services and products company headquartered in Dublin, Ohio. Tracing its roots to the early 1970s, the company has grown into a major provider of supply chain and distribution services for the healthcare sector. Cardinal Health operates across a range of service lines that support hospitals, health systems, pharmacies, physician offices and clinical laboratories.

The company's core activities include the wholesale distribution of branded and generic pharmaceuticals, the supply and distribution of medical-surgical products, and the provision of logistics and inventory management solutions.

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