Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,590,000 shares, an increase of 42.9% from the August 15th total of 6,710,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,000,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.8 days. Currently, 4.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cardinal Health

In other Cardinal Health news, insider Jessica L. Mayer sold 16,573 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.39, for a total transaction of $1,812,920.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 75,971 shares in the company, valued at $8,310,467.69. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Jessica L. Mayer sold 16,573 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.39, for a total value of $1,812,920.47. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 75,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,310,467.69. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jessica L. Mayer sold 17,896 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.48, for a total value of $1,905,566.08. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 94,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,065,447.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,963 shares of company stock valued at $12,379,980 in the last ninety days. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cardinal Health

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Cardinal Health during the fourth quarter worth $258,499,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Cardinal Health during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $90,440,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Cardinal Health by 19.1% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,723,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $416,585,000 after acquiring an additional 598,002 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in Cardinal Health in the first quarter worth approximately $56,454,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Cardinal Health by 265.6% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 657,526 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,577,000 after acquiring an additional 477,682 shares in the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price target on Cardinal Health from $115.00 to $107.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Cardinal Health from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Cardinal Health from $130.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Cardinal Health from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $114.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cardinal Health has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $119.36.

Cardinal Health Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CAH traded up $0.58 during trading on Monday, reaching $113.75. The stock had a trading volume of 66,250 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,100,372. Cardinal Health has a 52 week low of $85.82 and a 52 week high of $116.05. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $103.98 and its 200 day moving average is $104.02. The stock has a market cap of $27.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.60.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $59.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.74 billion. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 54.85% and a net margin of 0.37%. The business’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Cardinal Health will post 7.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be paid a $0.506 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. This is a positive change from Cardinal Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. Cardinal Health’s payout ratio is 89.78%.

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.