Cardinal Health
CAH on NYSE. Drugs, proprietaries & druggists' sundries. Market value $54.2bn.
Price checks use the past 12 months to June 2026. Quality checks use five annual reports, the latest for the year to June 2026.
Should I look at this?
Not a fit for our list right now
Why it could be worth it
What to watch out for
See Health care stocks that passed both tests
This is not advice. Check the numbers below.
For every $100 of what the whole company costs, it produced $8.33 of spare cash in the past 12 months. A savings account pays about $4.
You pay 22.3 years of operating profit for the business. The average large US company costs around 18.
The filings do not give us enough to work this out.
Quality score: 50 of 100. Price score: 65 of 100. Our list needs 70 on quality and 60 on price.
$233.44 a share, 54% above its 1-year low
Over the past year the price has ranged from $151.87 to $258.30.
Dividend: 0.9% a year
Paid every year for at least 5 years
Prices from Tuesday’s close (6 October).
Five years of cash, in billions
| Revenue | |||||
| Revenue | $181.3bn | $205.0bn | $226.8bn | $222.6bn | $254.2bn |
| Operating margin | |||||
| Operating margin | -0.3% | 0.4% | 0.5% | 1.0% | 1.0% |
| Debt to equity | |||||
| Debt to equity | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Shares outstanding | |||||
| Shares outstanding | 0.25bn | 0.24bn | 0.24bn | 0.24bn | 0.23bn |
Health checks
- Free cash flow positive5 of 5 years
- Accounting looks honest (Beneish)Nothing unusual
- Financial strength (Piotroski)6 of 8 checks we could run
- Profit backed by cash (accruals)Yes
- DebtUnknown
- Revenue growth, five yearsSlow, 9.4% a year
- Buying back its own sharesYes, 9% fewer since 2022
The quarter to June 2026
How the business did, compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| June 2024 | $59.9bn |
| September 2024 | $52.3bn |
| December 2024 | $55.3bn |
| March 2025 | $54.9bn |
| June 2025 | $60.2bn |
| September 2025 | $64.0bn |
| December 2025 | $65.6bn |
| June 2026 | Not reported |
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| June 2024 | $235m |
| September 2024 | $416m |
| December 2024 | $400m |
| March 2025 | $506m |
| June 2025 | $239m |
| September 2025 | $450m |
| December 2025 | $467m |
| June 2026 | Not reported |
From the company's quarterly reports to the SEC.
Dates
- Next results (estimated)
- 5 November 2026
- Last annual report (10-K)
- 11 August 2026
- Next quarterly (estimated, 10-Q)
- 30 July 2026
Who owns it
8 long-term investors we follow own it, up from 7 last quarter. 1,496 funds in all.
- Brandes Investment PartnersCharles Brandes
- Value
- $62m
- Share of fund
- 0.4%
- Southeastern Asset Management (Longleaf)Mason Hawkins
- Value
- $2m
- Share of fund
- <0.1%
- Mairs & PowerAndy Adams
- Value
- $503,865
- Share of fund
- <0.1%
| Fund | Value | Share of that fund | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brandes Investment PartnersCharles Brandes | $62m | 0.4% | |
| Gotham Asset ManagementJoel Greenblatt | $60m | 0.1% | Added |
| Boston PartnersBoston Partners team | $5m | <0.1% | New |
| Glenview Capital ManagementLarry Robbins | $4m | <0.1% | New |
| First Eagle Investment ManagementMatthew McLennan | $3m | <0.1% | Added |
| Southeastern Asset Management (Longleaf)Mason Hawkins | $2m | <0.1% | |
| LSV Asset ManagementJosef Lakonishok | $831,000 | <0.1% | Cut |
| Mairs & PowerAndy Adams | $503,865 | <0.1% |
Sold out this quarter
- GMOJeremy GranthamSold out
Largest holders overall
- BlackRock$6.3bnCut
- Vanguard Capital Management$3.6bn
- Wellington Management Group LLP$3.5bnAdded
- Vanguard Portfolio Management$3.3bn
- Banque Cantonale Vaudoise$3.0bn
- State Street$2.8bn
- Geode Capital Management$1.5bn
- Invesco$1.1bnAdded
- Morgan Stanley$1.1bnCut
- WCM Investment Management$971mAdded
From 13F filings for the quarter ended 30 June 2026.
Big holders and activists
4 investors own more than 5%.
- BlackRock, Inc.Passive investor7.8%Since 31 January 2025
- Vanguard Capital ManagementPassive investor7.5%Since 31 March 2026
- Wellington Management Group LLPPassive investorat least 6.3%(filed with 3 related holders)Since 30 June 2026
- Vanguard Portfolio ManagementPassive investor5.8%Since 31 March 2026
- BlackRock Portfolio Management LLCPassive investorSold down below 5%Since 31 December 2025
- The Vanguard GroupPassive investorSold down below 5%Since 13 March 2026
| Holder | Stake | Since | |
|---|---|---|---|
BlackRock, Inc. Passive investor | 7.8% | 31 January 2025 | |
Vanguard Capital Management Passive investor | 7.5% | 31 March 2026 | |
Wellington Management Group LLP Passive investor | at least 6.3% (filed with 3 related holders) | 30 June 2026 | |
Vanguard Portfolio Management Passive investor | 5.8% | 31 March 2026 | |
BlackRock Portfolio Management LLC Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 31 December 2025 | |
The Vanguard Group Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 13 March 2026 |
From Schedule 13D and 13G filings: anyone owning more than 5% must file one.
What insiders did
No insider bought shares on the open market in the last 12 months. 8 sold $62m.
- Scherer Mary C.Chief Accounting OfficerSold
- Date
- 19 August 2026
- Shares
- 2,302
- Price
- $237.39
- Value
- $546,473
- Hollar Jason M.Chief Executive OfficerSold
- Date
- 19 August 2026
- Shares
- 44,529
- Price
- $236.18
- Value
- $11m
- Greene Michelle D.Chief Information OfficerSold
- Date
- 18 August 2026
- Shares
- 11,650
- Price
- $235.72
- Value
- $3m
- WEITZMAN DEBORAHCEO, PSS SegmentSold
- Date
- 18 August 2026
- Shares
- 7,354
- Price
- $235.45
- Value
- $2m
- Mason Stephen MCEO, GMPD SegmentSold
- Date
- 18 August 2026
- Shares
- 35,000
- Price
- $236.40
- Value
- $8m
- Mayer Jessica LChief Legal/Compliance OfficerSold
- Date
- 18 August 2026
- Shares
- 29,436
- Price
- $236.19
- Value
- $7m
- Alt Aaron EChief Financial OfficerSold
- Date
- 18 August 2026
- Shares
- 42,000
- Price
- $236.34
- Value
- $10m
- Hollar Jason M.Chief Executive OfficerSold
- Date
- 18 August 2026
- Shares
- 80,000
- Price
- $235.74
- Value
- $19m
- Greene Michelle D.Chief Information OfficerSold
- Date
- 27 February 2026
- Shares
- 2,746
- Price
- $228.47
- Value
- $627,387
- Alt Aaron EChief Financial OfficerSold
- Date
- 18 February 2026
- Shares
- 2,328
- Price
- $225.50
- Value
- $524,964
| Date | Who | Did | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 August 2026 | Scherer Mary C. Chief Accounting Officer | Sold | 2,302 | $237.39 | $546,473 |
| 19 August 2026 | Hollar Jason M. Chief Executive Officer | Sold | 44,529 | $236.18 | $11m |
| 18 August 2026 | Greene Michelle D. Chief Information Officer | Sold | 11,650 | $235.72 | $3m |
| 18 August 2026 | WEITZMAN DEBORAH CEO, PSS Segment | Sold | 7,354 | $235.45 | $2m |
| 18 August 2026 | Mason Stephen M CEO, GMPD Segment | Sold | 35,000 | $236.40 | $8m |
| 18 August 2026 | Mayer Jessica L Chief Legal/Compliance Officer | Sold | 29,436 | $236.19 | $7m |
| 18 August 2026 | Alt Aaron E Chief Financial Officer | Sold | 42,000 | $236.34 | $10m |
| 18 August 2026 | Hollar Jason M. Chief Executive Officer | Sold | 80,000 | $235.74 | $19m |
| 27 February 2026 | Greene Michelle D. Chief Information Officer | Sold | 2,746 | $228.47 | $627,387 |
| 18 February 2026 | Alt Aaron E Chief Financial Officer | Sold | 2,328 | $225.50 | $524,964 |
From Form 4 filings: insiders must report trades in their own company's shares within two days.
Warning signs in its filings
Problems the company itself reported to the SEC, in its own words.
None of the serious warning signs we check for were found. 1 thing worth knowing.
We look for five warning signs: doubt it can keep going, weak checks on its own accounts, a notice that its past accounts can't be relied on, a change of auditor, and one customer bringing in a big share of sales. We don't check lawsuits, investigations or debt yet.
We checked the auditor's report, internal controls, restatement notices, auditor changes and big customers in the 10-K filed 11 Aug 2026, plus 1 later 8-K.
One big customer
Worth knowingOne customer brings in a big share of sales: 28% last year. Losing that customer would hurt.
“Our largest customer, CVS Health, accounted for 28 percent of our fiscal 2026 revenue.”
From the 10-K filed 11 August 2026, Item 1. Business. Read it in the filing
A 10-K is the yearly report every US company files with the SEC. An 8-K is a short notice of a big event.
What could go wrong
- It owes more than it owns on paper (negative equity). Often that's from borrowing to buy back shares.
Whether the price already reflects the risks is what the deep dive is for.
The deep dive
Everything above is arithmetic on public filings. The deep dive reads the last ten years of annual reports, the proxy statements, and the earnings calls, then argues the case the way Buffett, Klarman, and Hohn would, and checks every claim against the source.
- What the business is worth, as a range, and the margin of safety at today’s price
- Prices to start buying, buy, and buy hard
- The three things that would make this a mistake
- Every number footnoted to the filing it came from
Your first deep dive is free.
Not advice. Numbers on this page come from SEC filings and are updated each night; prices are updated again after the US market closes. The five-year figures are rounded.