Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Sells 5,011 Shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lessened its stake in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH - Free Report) by 41.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,082 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,011 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings in Cardinal Health were worth $976,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Flputnam Investment Management Co. raised its position in Cardinal Health by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 180,586 shares of the company's stock worth $21,358,000 after purchasing an additional 3,148 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 10,920 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,292,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 17.2% in the first quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,119 shares of the company's stock valued at $429,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $368,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 25.8% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 13,147 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,811,000 after purchasing an additional 2,694 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $142.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Cardinal Health from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $136.00 to $179.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Morgan Stanley set a $181.00 price target on shares of Cardinal Health and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cardinal Health from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cardinal Health presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $157.43.

Cardinal Health Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE CAH traded down $0.44 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $163.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,693,567 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,240,226. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.66. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a 12 month low of $93.17 and a 12 month high of $166.32. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $151.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.89.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.20. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.70% and a negative return on equity of 68.84%. The firm had revenue of $54.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.08 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.5107 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 1st. This is an increase from Cardinal Health's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. Cardinal Health's dividend payout ratio is 31.51%.

Cardinal Health 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.