Gradient Investments LLC Raises Stock Position in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)

Gradient Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH - Free Report) by 55,483.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 150,075 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 149,805 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC owned about 0.06% of Cardinal Health worth $16,793,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAH. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 82.2% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,128,009 shares of the company's stock valued at $358,390,000 after buying an additional 1,862,291 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Cardinal Health by 0.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,340,547 shares of the company's stock valued at $290,026,000 after acquiring an additional 28,412 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,619,561 shares of the company's stock valued at $264,052,000 after purchasing an additional 389,431 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Cardinal Health during the fourth quarter worth $258,499,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 0.8% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,496,531 shares of the company's stock valued at $216,749,000 after purchasing an additional 19,287 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cardinal Health Trading Down 4.0 %

CAH traded down $4.07 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $98.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,446,183 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,028,678. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $109.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.06 billion, a PE ratio of 43.96, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.71. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.56 and a fifty-two week high of $116.04.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $54.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $56.05 billion. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.25% and a negative return on equity of 54.74%. The company's revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.74 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 1st were paid a dividend of $0.5006 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Cardinal Health's dividend payout ratio is presently 88.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on CAH. StockNews.com raised shares of Cardinal Health from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Cardinal Health from $134.00 to $128.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Argus upgraded Cardinal Health from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Cardinal Health from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $96.00 to $94.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $105.79.

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.

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