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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CAH shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on Cardinal Health from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Argus upped their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cardinal Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 3rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Cardinal Health from $117.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $126.75.

Cardinal Health Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:CAH opened at $118.10 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $117.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.53. The firm 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 1-year low of $93.17 and a 1-year high of $126.23.

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

Cardinal Health Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a $0.5056 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. Cardinal Health’s payout ratio is 39.30%.

Institutional Trading of Cardinal Health

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Cardinal Health during the third quarter worth $507,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in shares of Cardinal Health during the 3rd quarter valued at about $497,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 151,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,918,000 after acquiring an additional 9,385 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Cardinal Health in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $846,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its position in Cardinal Health by 27.6% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 15,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,763,000 after purchasing an additional 3,449 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.