Great Lakes Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH - Free Report) by 67.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 59,932 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 24,048 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC's holdings in Cardinal Health were worth $6,041,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cardinal Health in the fourth quarter valued at $209,000. Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in Cardinal Health by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 6,678 shares of the company's stock valued at $673,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Cardinal Health by 50.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 184,537 shares of the company's stock worth $18,649,000 after acquiring an additional 61,933 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 282,440 shares of the company's stock worth $28,470,000 after acquiring an additional 38,769 shares during the period. Finally, Certuity LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cardinal Health in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $228,000. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on CAH. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Cardinal Health from $96.00 to $94.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $134.00 to $128.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Cardinal Health in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Cardinal Health from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cardinal Health currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.57.

Cardinal Health Trading Up 0.4 %

CAH traded up $0.38 on Friday, reaching $99.08. The stock had a trading volume of 1,307,975 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,247,072. The company has a market capitalization of $24.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.71. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $80.90 and a fifty-two week high of $116.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $106.34 and a 200-day moving average of $105.60.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.13. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 54.74% and a net margin of 0.25%. The company had revenue of $54.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $56.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.5056 per share. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 1st. This is a positive change from Cardinal Health's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Cardinal Health's payout ratio is 88.89%.

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.