Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) Sets New 52-Week High After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Key Points

• Cardinal Health beat quarterly expectations: EPS was $3.26 versus the $2.94 consensus, while revenue reached $67.51 billion, up 5.5% year over year and above forecasts.
• Shares reached a new 52-week high after the results. Analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus rating, with an average price target of $270.69.
• The company’s quarterly dividend was $0.5158 per share. Insiders sold a combined 210,271 shares worth about $49.6 million over the past 90 days.

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $268.00 and last traded at $280.7730, with a volume of 2,248 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $261.93.

The company reported $3.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $67.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $66.67 billion. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 98.53% and a net margin of 0.67%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.55 earnings per share.

Cardinal Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 1st were given a $0.5158 dividend. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 1st. Cardinal Health's payout ratio is presently 28.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings raised Cardinal Health from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Cardinal Health in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $258.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cardinal Health currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $270.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Stephen Mason sold 35,000 shares of Cardinal Health stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.40, for a total transaction of $8,274,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 18,061 shares in the company, valued at $4,269,620.40. This trade represents a 65.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jessica Mayer sold 29,436 shares of Cardinal Health stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.19, for a total transaction of $6,952,488.84. Following the transaction, the insider owned 33,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,812,220.44. This trade represents a 47.09% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 210,271 shares of company stock valued at $49,626,657 in the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAH. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Cardinal Health in the 2nd quarter worth about $6,293,115,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Cardinal Health by 247.5% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,860,271 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,530,206,000 after buying an additional 10,584,119 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Cardinal Health in the second quarter valued at approximately $689,066,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Cardinal Health in the 2nd quarter worth $438,870,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Cardinal Health during the second quarter worth $308,640,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company's stock.

Cardinal Health Stock Performance

The stock's fifty day moving average is $239.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $222.96. The company has a market cap of $65.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.53.

Cardinal Health Company Profile

Cardinal Health, Inc is a healthcare services and products company that supports the distribution and delivery of pharmaceuticals, medical products and related services. The company serves hospitals, pharmacies, ambulatory surgery centers, clinical laboratories, physician offices and other healthcare providers.

Its Pharmaceutical and Specialty Solutions segment distributes branded, generic and specialty pharmaceuticals, as well as consumer health products, to pharmacies and healthcare institutions.

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