Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Reduces Holdings in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund reduced its position in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,220 shares of the company’s stock after selling 636 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Cardinal Health were worth $798,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health in the third quarter valued at about $371,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Cardinal Health by 38.7% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 19,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,148,000 after purchasing an additional 5,352 shares in the last quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cardinal Health during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,208,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 62.7% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 115,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,953,000 after purchasing an additional 44,615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health in the third quarter valued at approximately $507,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Cardinal Health Trading Down 2.1 %

CAH opened at $118.78 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $28.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.11, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $113.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.22. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a 12-month low of $93.17 and a 12-month high of $126.14.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $52.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $50.90 billion. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.56% and a negative return on equity of 56.56%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.73 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Cardinal Health Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders 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 1.70%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.30%.

Insider Activity

In other Cardinal Health news, insider Jessica L. Mayer sold 16,573 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.39, for a total transaction of $1,812,920.47. Following the sale, the insider now owns 75,971 shares in the company, valued at $8,310,467.69. This represents a 17.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on CAH. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Cardinal Health from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $130.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $117.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.