Aviva PLC Sells 188,088 Shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)

Aviva PLC cut its position in shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) by 56.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 145,821 shares of the company’s stock after selling 188,088 shares during the period. Aviva PLC owned about 0.06% of Cardinal Health worth $17,246,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 35.2% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 32,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,871,000 after purchasing an additional 8,471 shares in the last quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp increased its holdings in Cardinal Health by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 240,422 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,435,000 after buying an additional 3,576 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Cardinal Health by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,749,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $633,298,000 after buying an additional 42,082 shares in the last quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp lifted its holdings in Cardinal Health by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 8,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,056,000 after buying an additional 2,552 shares during the period. Finally, Flputnam Investment Management Co. boosted its position in Cardinal Health by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 180,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,358,000 after acquiring an additional 3,148 shares in the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen upgraded Cardinal Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $144.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $136.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America raised shares of Cardinal Health from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $132.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Cardinal Health from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Cardinal Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $150.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cardinal Health currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.14.

Cardinal Health Stock Performance

Cardinal Health stock opened at $125.74 on Tuesday. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $93.17 and a fifty-two week high of $139.50. The company has a market cap of $30.37 billion, a PE ratio of 23.46, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $129.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $121.80.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share 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, analysts predict that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.5056 dividend. This represents a $2.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Cardinal Health’s payout ratio is 37.69%.

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.