New York State Common Retirement Fund Boosts Stake in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)

New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH - Free Report) by 2.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 331,748 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,072 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.14% of Cardinal Health worth $45,705,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Cardinal Health in the 4th quarter worth approximately $246,748,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Cardinal Health by 154.6% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,151,736 shares of the company's stock valued at $372,756,000 after purchasing an additional 1,913,892 shares during the period. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Cardinal Health in the fourth quarter worth about $141,963,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 17,589.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 964,941 shares of the company's stock valued at $132,940,000 after buying an additional 959,486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Cardinal Health during the 4th quarter valued at about $92,811,000. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cardinal Health Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of CAH stock traded down $1.63 on Thursday, reaching $159.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,253,488 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,231,361. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $158.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.62. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.29 and a 1 year high of $168.44. The company has a market capitalization of $38.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.68.

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

Cardinal Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st were issued a $0.5107 dividend. This is a boost from Cardinal Health's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Cardinal Health's payout ratio is 31.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAH has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $156.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $170.00 target price (up previously from $157.00) on shares of Cardinal Health in a report on Friday, June 13th. Evercore ISI reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $180.00 price target (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Cardinal Health in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Cardinal Health from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $136.00 to $179.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Cardinal Health from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $158.07.

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.