Investors Purchase High Volume of Cardinal Health Put Options (NYSE:CAH)

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders acquired 6,884 put options on the company. This is an increase of 27% compared to the typical daily volume of 5,405 put options.

Cardinal Health Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of CAH stock traded down $0.25 on Friday, hitting $136.40. 1,236,640 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,100,110. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.66. Cardinal Health has a fifty-two week low of $93.17 and a fifty-two week high of $139.81. The business has a 50-day moving average of $128.16 and a 200 day moving average of $120.59.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.19. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.59% and a negative return on equity of 59.57%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cardinal Health will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.5056 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. Cardinal Health’s payout ratio is currently 37.69%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 687.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 134,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,961,000 after acquiring an additional 117,803 shares during the period. 111 Capital bought a new stake in Cardinal Health in the 4th quarter valued at about $560,000. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ acquired a new position in shares of Cardinal Health during the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,576,000. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV increased its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV now owns 4,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $510,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH raised its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 2,320.0% in the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 63,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,516,000 after buying an additional 60,923 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on CAH. Argus set a $148.00 target price on Cardinal Health in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America upgraded Cardinal Health from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $132.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Cardinal Health from $135.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Cardinal Health from $142.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Cardinal Health from $136.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cardinal Health currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $139.36.

Cardinal Health Company 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.