Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 11,339 Shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)

Alliancebernstein L.P. decreased its position in shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 344,214 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,339 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Cardinal Health were worth $40,710,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 85,274.1% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 72,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,583,000 after buying an additional 72,483 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Cardinal Health by 687.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 134,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,961,000 after acquiring an additional 117,803 shares in the last quarter. Partners in Financial Planning acquired a new position in Cardinal Health in the fourth quarter valued at about $256,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health in the fourth quarter worth about $698,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 31.6% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 70,191 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,277,000 after purchasing an additional 16,845 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Cardinal Health Trading Down 5.6 %

NYSE CAH opened at $129.37 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $31.25 billion, a PE ratio of 24.14, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.66. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a 12 month low of $93.17 and a 12 month high of $139.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $129.15 and a 200-day moving average of $121.62.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a $0.5056 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Cardinal Health’s payout ratio is 37.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CAH shares. Mizuho increased their target price on Cardinal Health from $142.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $142.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America raised shares of Cardinal Health from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $132.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Cardinal Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Cardinal Health from $120.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.14.

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.