Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) Upgraded by Evercore ISI to "Outperform" Rating

Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH - Free Report) from an in-line rating to an outperform rating in a research report report published on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. Evercore ISI currently has $140.00 price target on the stock.

CAH has been the subject of a number of other research reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Cardinal Health from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Cardinal Health from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price target for the company from $101.00 to $127.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Cardinal Health from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Cardinal Health from $127.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $130.77.

Cardinal Health Stock Performance

Cardinal Health stock traded up $1.48 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $121.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,394,629 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,341,007. Cardinal Health has a fifty-two week low of $93.17 and a fifty-two week high of $126.23. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $118.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.31 billion, a PE ratio of 23.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.63.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 56.56% and a net margin of 0.56%. The company had revenue of $52.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.73 earnings per share. Cardinal Health's quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Cardinal Health will post 7.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Cardinal Health Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.5056 per share. This represents a $2.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. Cardinal Health's payout ratio is 39.30%.

Institutional Trading of Cardinal Health

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Cardinal Health by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,749,859 shares of the company's stock valued at $633,298,000 after purchasing an additional 42,082 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Cardinal Health by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,474,625 shares of the company's stock valued at $162,976,000 after purchasing an additional 33,388 shares during the period. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC bought a new stake in Cardinal Health during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $371,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,691,000. Finally, National Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $903,000. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company's stock.

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.