Empirical Asset Management LLC Invests $859,000 in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)

Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,266 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $859,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Cardinal Health in the second quarter valued at $90,440,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 4.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,177,641 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,566,913,000 after purchasing an additional 627,253 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 9.9% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,099,082 shares of the company's stock valued at $403,022,000 after purchasing an additional 370,181 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in Cardinal Health by 47.9% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,069,462 shares of the company's stock worth $118,197,000 after purchasing an additional 346,362 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in Cardinal Health by 230.0% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 477,911 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,819,000 after buying an additional 333,095 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cardinal Health Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CAH traded down $0.76 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $126.27. 1,642,944 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,877,583. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $120.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $111.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.56 billion, a PE ratio of 24.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.63. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a 12 month low of $93.17 and a 12 month high of $127.27.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $52.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $50.90 billion. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 56.56% and a net margin of 0.56%. The business's revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.73 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Cardinal Health Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a $0.5056 dividend. This represents a $2.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Cardinal Health's payout ratio is currently 39.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CAH. Evercore ISI upgraded Cardinal Health from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $140.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup increased their price target on Cardinal Health from $120.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cardinal Health from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, November 3rd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $117.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Cardinal Health from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $132.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $133.29.

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.