BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Sells 121,540 Shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. trimmed its holdings in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) by 21.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 445,086 shares of the company’s stock after selling 121,540 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s holdings in Cardinal Health were worth $48,866,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Cardinal Health by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,099,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $403,022,000 after purchasing an additional 370,181 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Cardinal Health by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,730,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $305,584,000 after acquiring an additional 14,030 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Cardinal Health by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,759,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,974,000 after purchasing an additional 85,247 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Cardinal Health by 7.1% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,683,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,517,000 after purchasing an additional 111,137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 17.7% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,610,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $158,390,000 after purchasing an additional 242,608 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cardinal Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 3rd. Barclays boosted their target price on Cardinal Health from $117.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group upped their target price on Cardinal Health from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $130.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.00.

Cardinal Health Price Performance

NYSE:CAH opened at $123.30 on Friday. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a one year low of $93.17 and a one year high of $126.14. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $113.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.99, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.60.

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, 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 analyst estimates of $50.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.73 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 7.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 1.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.30%.

Cardinal Health 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.