Short Interest in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) Expands By 41.9%

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) was the target of a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,270,000 shares, an increase of 41.9% from the January 31st total of 4,420,000 shares. Currently, 2.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 2,230,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Cardinal Health Stock Performance

Shares of Cardinal Health stock traded up $1.72 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $128.03. 512,762 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,350,216. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $125.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $118.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.89, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.63. Cardinal Health has a 52-week low of $93.17 and a 52-week high of $132.84.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.19. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 59.57% and a net margin of 0.59%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cardinal Health will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.5056 dividend. This represents a $2.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.69%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cardinal Health

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp raised 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 valued at $1,566,913,000 after buying an additional 627,253 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,859,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $691,145,000 after buying an additional 109,273 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,290,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $474,203,000 after buying an additional 191,568 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,182,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $376,396,000 after buying an additional 140,368 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 154.6% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,151,736 shares of the company’s stock valued at $372,756,000 after buying an additional 1,913,892 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Cardinal Health from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $132.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Cardinal Health in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $139.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen raised shares of Cardinal Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $144.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $120.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $136.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cardinal Health presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $139.36.

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.