Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) Short Interest Update

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,780,000 shares, a decline of 20.1% from the November 15th total of 5,980,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,040,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days. Currently, 2.0% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cardinal Health

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health during the 2nd quarter valued at about $90,440,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,177,641 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,566,913,000 after buying an additional 627,253 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,099,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $403,022,000 after buying an additional 370,181 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 47.9% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,069,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,197,000 after acquiring an additional 346,362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in Cardinal Health by 230.0% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 477,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,819,000 after acquiring an additional 333,095 shares in the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cardinal Health Stock Up 0.5 %

CAH opened at $118.10 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $117.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $108.53. The company has a market capitalization of $28.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.98, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.61. Cardinal Health has a twelve month low of $93.17 and a twelve month high of $126.23.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $52.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.90 billion. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 56.56% and a net margin of 0.56%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.73 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Cardinal Health will post 7.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.5056 per share. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. Cardinal Health’s payout ratio is presently 39.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Cardinal Health from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $101.00 to $127.00 in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Cardinal Health in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $139.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Cardinal Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, November 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $126.75.

About Cardinal Health

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.