Cardinal Health (CAH) hit a record high following a strong fourth-quarter earnings report. In the days after the results, a wave of insider selling swept through the company’s executive team, with CEO Jason Hollar alone selling $29.4 million in stock and total sales across top executives reaching nearly $60 million.

Hollar sold 124,529 shares on Aug. 18 at prices between $234.07 and $238.065 per share. The sale was his first open-market sale since August 2025 and only his second stock sale since joining Cardinal Health in 2020.

The selling came just days after the company posted fourth-quarter results on Aug. 11 that delivered a clear earnings beat. Cardinal Health’s fiscal year ends in June, which is why fourth-quarter results arrive in August and the new guidance covers the fiscal year that began July 1. Q4 EPS came in at $2.91, well ahead of the $2.42 consensus estimate. Revenue rose 5.8% year over year to $63.67 billion, though it fell short of the $65.15 billion analyst estimate. That scale is typical of U.S. drug distribution, where Cardinal Health ranks among the three largest wholesalers alongside McKesson and Cencora, and where high volume and thin margins make quarterly revenue in the tens of billions routine for the industry’s biggest players. Cardinal Health also set FY2027 EPS guidance at $12.40 to $12.60, which helped fuel the initial surge in the stock. Analysts currently expect full-year EPS of $12.54.

The report drove CAH to a record closing price of $240.26 on Aug. 11, and the shares touched an intraday high of $258.30. The stock has since pulled back from those levels, opening at $229.48 on Friday, down from its post-earnings high. The 12-month low is $145.87.

Insider selling spread across the executive team

Hollar was not the only seller. Additional sales by senior executives on the same day pushed the total to nearly $60 million.

CFO Aaron Alt sold 42,000 shares for more than $9.9 million. Chief Legal and Compliance Officer Jessica Mayer sold 29,436 shares for nearly $7 million. Chief Information Officer Michelle Greene sold 11,650 shares for $2.7 million.

The heads of the company’s two main business units also trimmed their positions. Debbie Weitzman, CEO of the pharmaceutical unit, sold 7,354 shares for approximately $1.7 million. Steve Mason, CEO of the global medical products and distribution segment, sold 35,000 shares for about $8.3 million, a transaction that cut his ownership stake by nearly 66%.

Chief Accounting Officer Mary Scherer followed a day later, selling 2,302 shares for roughly $546,472 on Aug. 19. In total, insiders sold 210,271 shares worth nearly $49.6 million during the last quarter. Executive stock transactions become public through SEC Form 4 filings, and clusters of sales after an earnings-driven rally are a pattern the market tracks, though such selling can reflect personal diversification or pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plans rather than a judgment about the company’s outlook.

Analysts maintain a positive view

Despite the pullback in the share price and the wave of insider selling, Wall Street remains largely positive on the stock, which carries a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating from analysts.

TD Cowen raised its price target to $280 and maintained a “buy” rating. Leerink Partners set a price target of $292. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage with an “outperform” rating and a $276 target. JPMorgan raised its target from $215 to $260 but kept a “neutral” rating.

Sixteen analysts rate the stock a buy and three rate it a hold. The average price target sits at $266.56. The next concrete checkpoints are future Form 4 filings, which will show whether the insider selling continues, and subsequent quarterly reports, which will show how results compare with the $12.40 to $12.60 guidance range.

Cardinal Health also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5158 per share, payable Oct. 15 to shareholders of record as of Oct. 1, representing a 0.9% yield.

Source: CoinCentral