Acadian Asset Management LLC Sells 1,290,553 Shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. $CAH

Key Points

• Acadian Asset Management LLC significantly reduced its stake in Cardinal Health by 59.7%, selling over 1.2 million shares during the 1st quarter.
• Several institutional investors have increased their holdings, with Principal Financial Group Inc. raising its position by 5.3% and Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC by 17.2%.
• Cardinal Health reported a quarterly earnings of $2.08 EPS, surpassing analyst expectations, while the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.5107 payable on October 15th.

Acadian Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH - Free Report) by 59.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 872,113 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,290,553 shares during the quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC owned about 0.37% of Cardinal Health worth $120,126,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Cardinal Health by 1,666.7% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,384,192 shares of the company's stock worth $328,470,000 after acquiring an additional 2,249,241 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Cardinal Health by 40.0% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,175,992 shares of the company's stock worth $575,327,000 after acquiring an additional 1,193,983 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Cardinal Health by 17,589.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 964,941 shares of the company's stock worth $132,940,000 after acquiring an additional 959,486 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI raised its position in Cardinal Health by 4,935.9% in the first quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 946,750 shares of the company's stock worth $130,434,000 after acquiring an additional 927,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Cardinal Health in the first quarter worth about $106,065,000. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jessica L. Mayer sold 38,078 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.82, for a total transaction of $5,666,767.96. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 48,457 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,211,370.74. The trade was a 44.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jason M. Hollar sold 107,705 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.90, for a total transaction of $16,037,274.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 235,901 shares in the company, valued at $35,125,658.90. The trade was a 31.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 271,676 shares of company stock valued at $40,489,525 in the last three months. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on CAH. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $185.00 price target (up from $183.00) on shares of Cardinal Health in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Cardinal Health from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Cardinal Health from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Leerink Partners dropped their price target on Cardinal Health from $188.00 to $186.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Cardinal Health in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $165.93.

Cardinal Health Stock Performance

CAH traded down $0.14 during trading on Friday, reaching $152.34. The company had a trading volume of 1,162,569 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,177,648. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a 12-month low of $106.54 and a 12-month high of $168.44. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $154.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $147.65. The company has a market cap of $36.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.62, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.73.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Cardinal Health has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.300-9.500 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Cardinal Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $0.5107 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Cardinal Health's payout ratio is presently 31.63%.

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.