California State Teachers Retirement System Purchases 84,823,056 Shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. $CAH

Key Points

• California State Teachers Retirement System increased its Cardinal Health stake by 22,881.2%, purchasing 84.8 million additional shares and bringing its ownership to approximately 36.63%, valued at $20.24 billion.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive: 16 analysts rate Cardinal Health a Buy and three rate it a Hold, producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $266.56 price target.
• Cardinal Health reported quarterly EPS of $2.91, well above the $2.42 estimate, while revenue rose 5.8% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5158 per share, representing an annualized yield of about 0.8%.

California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH - Free Report) by 22,881.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,193,767 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 84,823,056 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 36.63% of Cardinal Health worth $20,238,631,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CAH. Nilsine Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 437.7% in the 2nd quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 6,049 shares of the company's stock worth $1,437,000 after acquiring an additional 4,924 shares in the last quarter. Saudi Central Bank grew its stake in Cardinal Health by 87.8% in the second quarter. Saudi Central Bank now owns 16,472 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,913,000 after purchasing an additional 7,702 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Management LLC bought a new position in Cardinal Health in the second quarter worth about $1,526,000. NBH Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, AlphaGrep UK Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Cardinal Health in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $709,000. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $258.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Cardinal Health in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Wall Street Zen raised Cardinal Health from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Cardinal Health from $251.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Cardinal Health from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $266.56.

Insider Transactions at Cardinal Health

In related news, CEO Deborah Weitzman sold 7,354 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.45, for a total value of $1,731,499.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 77,901 shares in the company, valued at $18,341,790.45. This represents a 8.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jason M. Hollar sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.74, for a total transaction of $18,859,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 235,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,430,017.68. This trade represents a 25.39% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 210,271 shares of company stock valued at $49,626,657. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Cardinal Health Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:CAH opened at $246.67 on Tuesday. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a 12 month low of $145.87 and a 12 month high of $258.30. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $234.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $219.32. The company has a market capitalization of $57.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.12, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.51.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.42 by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $63.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.15 billion. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 98.53% and a net margin of 0.67%.The firm's revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.08 EPS. Cardinal Health has set its FY 2027 guidance at 12.400-12.600 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 12.55 EPS for the current year.

Cardinal Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be issued a $0.5158 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Cardinal Health's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.49%.

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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