Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Raises Stock Holdings in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its position in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 52,517 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Cardinal Health were worth $6,211,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CAH. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 5.2% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,208,000 after buying an additional 545 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in Cardinal Health by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 24,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,640,000 after purchasing an additional 4,253 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden increased its position in Cardinal Health by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 108,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,014,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Cardinal Health by 93.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 46,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,091,000 after purchasing an additional 22,267 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in Cardinal Health by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 57,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,354,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $135.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Cardinal Health from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective 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. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $120.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Cardinal Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, November 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.40.

Cardinal Health Price Performance

Shares of Cardinal Health stock opened at $127.43 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $30.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.77, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.63. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $123.84 and its 200 day moving average is $117.53. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a 1 year low of $93.17 and a 1 year high of $132.84.

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

Cardinal Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.