Bank of Nova Scotia Takes Position in Cardinal Health, Inc. $CAH

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia acquired 374,095 Cardinal Health shares worth approximately $88.9 million, giving it a 0.16% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 87.17% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with 16 Buy ratings and three Holds, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $266.56. RBC initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a $276 target.
• Cardinal Health reported adjusted quarterly EPS of $2.91, exceeding the $2.42 consensus, while revenue rose 5.8% year over year; however, substantial insider selling and the potential impact of a one-time tariff refund present cautionary signals.

Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new position in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 374,095 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $88,870,000. Bank of Nova Scotia owned 0.16% of Cardinal Health at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kendall Capital Management bought a new stake in Cardinal Health in the 2nd quarter worth $379,000. Hudson Portfolio Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Cardinal Health during the second quarter valued at about $857,000. Compass Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health during the second quarter worth about $1,526,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health during the second quarter worth about $987,000. Finally, Alta Advisers Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health in the second quarter worth about $213,000. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CAH shares. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Cardinal Health in a report on Wednesday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $276.00 price target on the stock. Zacks Research lowered Cardinal Health from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $274.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Leerink Partners set a $292.00 price objective on shares of Cardinal Health in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, William Blair started coverage on shares of Cardinal Health in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cardinal Health has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $266.56.

Cardinal Health News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Cardinal Health this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage with an “outperform” rating and a $276 price target, implying meaningful upside from recent trading levels. RBC cited Cardinal Health’s higher-margin services as a potential earnings-growth driver. RBC initiates coverage of Cardinal Health
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street remains broadly constructive, with 16 analysts rating CAH a Buy and three assigning a Hold rating. The consensus rating is “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of approximately $266.56. Zacks also identified Cardinal Health as a potentially attractive long-term value stock. Zacks value-stock analysis
• Positive Sentiment: Cardinal Health’s latest quarter delivered adjusted earnings per share of $2.91, well above the $2.42 consensus estimate, while revenue increased 5.8% year over year. Fiscal 2027 EPS guidance of $12.40–$12.60 supports the longer-term earnings case.
• Neutral Sentiment: The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5158 per share, equivalent to $2.06 annually and a yield of about 0.9%. The payout offers modest income support but is unlikely to be a major near-term catalyst.
• Negative Sentiment: Several executives sold sizable holdings around $235–$237 per share. CEO Jason Hollar sold 124,529 shares worth about $29.4 million, while other executive and insider sales—including those by Deborah Weitzman, Stephen Mason, Michelle Greene, Jessica Mayer and Mary Scherer—totaled roughly $20 million more. The concentrated selling and substantial reductions in insider ownership may encourage profit-taking concerns after CAH’s strong advance. Cardinal Health insider sales
• Negative Sentiment: Investors may also question the durability of the latest earnings beat because part of the improvement reportedly reflected a one-time tariff refund, potentially limiting the stock’s upside if recurring earnings growth does not match expectations. Cardinal Health earnings analysis

Insider Transactions at Cardinal Health

In other Cardinal Health news, CAO Mary C. Scherer sold 2,302 shares of Cardinal Health stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.39, for a total value of $546,471.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,811 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $667,303.29. The trade was a 45.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jessica L. Mayer sold 29,436 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.19, for a total transaction of $6,952,488.84. Following the sale, the insider owned 33,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,812,220.44. The trade was a 47.09% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 210,271 shares of company stock valued at $49,626,657. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Cardinal Health Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CAH opened at $229.48 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $232.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $217.86. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $145.87 and a fifty-two week high of $258.30. The company has a market capitalization of $53.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.49.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported $2.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.42 by $0.49. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 98.53% and a net margin of 0.67%.The firm had revenue of $63.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $65.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.08 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Cardinal Health has set its FY 2027 guidance at 12.400-12.600 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 12.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be paid a $0.5158 dividend. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. Cardinal Health's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.49%.

Cardinal Health 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CAH? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source