Investors Purchase Large Volume of Cardinal Health Call Options (NYSE:CAH)

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 11,036 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 379% compared to the average daily volume of 2,306 call options.

Cardinal Health Stock Performance

Cardinal Health stock traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $118.10. 516,369 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,103,581. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $118.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $110.00. Cardinal Health has a 52-week low of $93.17 and a 52-week high of $126.23. The company has a market cap of $28.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.98, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.61.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.56% and a negative return on equity of 56.56%. The company had revenue of $52.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $50.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.73 earnings per share. Cardinal Health’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Cardinal Health will post 7.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Cardinal Health Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.5056 per share. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.30%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Cardinal Health in the second quarter worth $90,440,000. State Street Corp boosted 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 worth $1,566,913,000 after purchasing an additional 627,253 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Cardinal Health by 9.9% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in Cardinal Health by 47.9% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,069,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,197,000 after purchasing an additional 346,362 shares during the last quarter. 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 purchasing an additional 333,095 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Cardinal Health from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $101.00 to $127.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. 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 note on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Cardinal Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, November 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $127.50.

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.