Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. trimmed its position in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) by 20.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,094 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,834 shares during the period. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Cardinal Health were worth $1,925,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,802,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,246,751,000 after purchasing an additional 457,777 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Cardinal Health by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,186,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,748,000 after buying an additional 511,826 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,396,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $406,560,000 after acquiring an additional 28,250 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,594,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,155,000 after acquiring an additional 161,667 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $358,390,000 after acquiring an additional 1,862,291 shares during the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on CAH. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Cardinal Health in a research note on Monday, February 26th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Cardinal Health from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Cardinal Health from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 27th. SVB Leerink began coverage on Cardinal Health in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $125.00 target price for the company. Finally, Argus upgraded Cardinal Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.07.

Cardinal Health Price Performance

NYSE:CAH opened at $107.19 on Wednesday. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.56 and a 12-month high of $116.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.68. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $109.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $104.00.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.26. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.30% and a negative return on equity of 57.44%. The business had revenue of $57.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $57.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 28th. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.74%.

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.