Avestar Capital LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)

Avestar Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) by 16.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,395 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 330 shares during the quarter. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Cardinal Health were worth $265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Paragon Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Paragon Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,451,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Midland Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Midland Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $245,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,071 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 20,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,054,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 10,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,193,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cardinal Health Stock Performance

Shares of Cardinal Health stock opened at $122.59 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $29.67 billion, a PE ratio of 23.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.29. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a 1 year low of $93.17 and a 1 year high of $126.14.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.56% and a negative return on equity of 56.56%. The business had revenue of $52.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.73 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Cardinal Health Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.5056 per share. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAH has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $130.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cardinal Health has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.00.

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.