Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. Makes New $63,000 Investment in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)

Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Cardinal Health by 82.2% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,128,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,390,000 after buying an additional 1,862,291 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 118.9% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,516,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $152,816,000 after purchasing an additional 823,520 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cardinal Health in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $464,800,000. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Cardinal Health by 64.9% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,027,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,222,000 after buying an additional 404,609 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Cardinal Health by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,619,561 shares of the company’s stock worth $264,052,000 after buying an additional 389,431 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cardinal Health from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Cardinal Health from $96.00 to $94.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. SVB Leerink began coverage on Cardinal Health in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $134.00 to $128.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.79.

Cardinal Health Price Performance

Shares of CAH traded down $2.27 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $97.45. 2,280,585 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,284,416. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $108.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.27. The company has a market capitalization of $23.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.75, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.71. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a twelve month low of $80.90 and a twelve month high of $116.04.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $54.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st will be issued a $0.5056 dividend. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. This is a boost from Cardinal Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 1st. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.