Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $125.42 and last traded at $125.05, with a volume of 1123096 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $123.51.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CAH shares. StockNews.com lowered Cardinal Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, November 3rd. Argus upped their target price on Cardinal Health from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Cardinal Health from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $115.00 to $107.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Cardinal Health Trading Down 3.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $29.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $113.00 and its 200 day moving average is $105.07.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 56.56% and a net margin of 0.56%. The firm had revenue of $52.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.73 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a $0.5056 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.67%. Cardinal Health’s payout ratio is 39.30%.

Insider Transactions at Cardinal Health

In related news, insider Jessica L. Mayer sold 16,573 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.39, for a total value of $1,812,920.47. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 75,971 shares in the company, valued at $8,310,467.69. This trade represents a 17.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Michelle D. Greene sold 4,000 shares of Cardinal Health stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.85, for a total transaction of $435,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,094,491.70. This represents a 17.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 69,351 shares of company stock valued at $7,565,843. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cardinal Health

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health in the 2nd quarter valued at about $90,440,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Cardinal Health by 19.1% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,723,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $416,585,000 after purchasing an additional 598,002 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Cardinal Health in the first quarter worth $56,454,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 265.6% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 657,526 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,577,000 after purchasing an additional 477,682 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Cardinal Health in the 1st quarter valued at $48,673,000. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.