Essex Financial Services Inc. Purchases Shares of 1,799 Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)

Essex Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CAH. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 69.8% in the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 253 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Cardinal Health in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. AM Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Cardinal Health during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Cardinal Health during the third quarter worth $47,000. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI upgraded Cardinal Health from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $120.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America raised shares of Cardinal Health from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $132.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group lifted their target price 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Cardinal Health from $136.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cardinal Health presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $136.87.

Cardinal Health Stock Performance

CAH stock opened at $127.16 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $122.78 and a 200-day moving average of $115.99. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $93.17 and a fifty-two week high of $132.84. The company has a market capitalization of $30.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.72, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.63.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.19. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.59% and a negative return on equity of 59.57%. Equities analysts predict that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Cardinal Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.5056 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio is 37.69%.

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.