Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,980,000 shares, a growth of 8.7% from the October 31st total of 5,500,000 shares. Approximately 2.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,100,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Cardinal Health Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of Cardinal Health stock traded up $1.73 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $125.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 757,646 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,099,838. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $115.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.16. Cardinal Health has a 12-month low of $93.17 and a 12-month high of $126.23. The company has a market capitalization of $30.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.61.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $52.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.73 earnings per share. Cardinal Health’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Cardinal Health will post 7.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.5056 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. Cardinal Health’s payout ratio is 39.30%.

Institutional Trading of Cardinal Health

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Cardinal Health by 2.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,474,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $162,976,000 after purchasing an additional 33,388 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Cardinal Health during the third quarter worth $371,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in Cardinal Health during the third quarter worth $1,691,000. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cardinal Health during the second quarter worth $1,208,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in Cardinal Health by 35.9% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 32,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,643,000 after purchasing an additional 8,707 shares in the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. StockNews.com lowered Cardinal Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, November 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Cardinal Health from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Cardinal Health from $130.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Mizuho initiated coverage on Cardinal Health in a research report on Wednesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $139.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $124.58.

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.