Miracle Mile Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 2,011 Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CAH. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Cardinal Health by 82.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,128,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,390,000 after purchasing an additional 1,862,291 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Cardinal Health by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,619,561 shares of the company’s stock worth $264,052,000 after acquiring an additional 389,431 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health during the 4th quarter valued at $258,499,000. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 118.9% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,516,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $152,816,000 after purchasing an additional 823,520 shares during the period. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,221,191 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,096,000 after purchasing an additional 28,042 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Cardinal Health Price Performance

Shares of Cardinal Health stock opened at $96.54 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $23.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $99.64 and its 200-day moving average is $104.42. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a one year low of $85.11 and a one year high of $116.04.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $54.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $56.05 billion. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 54.74% and a net margin of 0.25%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.74 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.35 EPS for the current year.

Cardinal Health Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 1st will be given a $0.5056 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 1st. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. This is an increase from Cardinal Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on CAH. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Cardinal Health from $134.00 to $128.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Cardinal Health from $96.00 to $94.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Argus reduced their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Cardinal Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.67.

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.