Lazard Asset Management LLC Grows Position in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)

Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) by 6.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 538,121 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,208 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned about 0.22% of Cardinal Health worth $60,215,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CAH. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 19.1% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,723,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $416,585,000 after purchasing an additional 598,002 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Cardinal Health in the fourth quarter worth about $258,499,000. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in 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 worth $152,816,000 after acquiring an additional 823,520 shares in the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,221,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,096,000 after buying an additional 28,042 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 25.2% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 814,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,349,000 after buying an additional 163,896 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 boosted their price target on Cardinal Health from $129.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Argus lowered their price target on Cardinal Health from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $115.00 to $107.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cardinal Health presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.67.

Cardinal Health Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of CAH stock traded up $1.44 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $98.35. 1,383,461 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,795,193. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $98.02 and its 200-day moving average is $103.59. The company has a market cap of $23.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.61. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $85.11 and a fifty-two week high of $116.04.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last issued its quarterly 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 the consensus estimate of $56.05 billion. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 54.74% and a net margin of 0.25%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.35 EPS for the current year.

Cardinal Health Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st were given a dividend of $0.5056 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 1st. This is an increase from Cardinal Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.78%.

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.