Short Interest in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) Drops By 15.9%

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 5,100,946 shares, a decline of 15.9% from the December 31st total of 6,061,976 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,713,826 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,713,826 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Cardinal Health Price Performance

Cardinal Health stock opened at $214.85 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $206.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $178.14. The company has a market capitalization of $51.05 billion, a PE ratio of 32.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.64. Cardinal Health has a one year low of $120.72 and a one year high of $216.51.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $64.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.41 billion. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 84.37% and a net margin of 0.68%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Cardinal Health will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.5107 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.77%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cardinal Health

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,441,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,461,179,000 after buying an additional 617,775 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,389,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,069,005,000 after acquiring an additional 205,539 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Cardinal Health by 153.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,804,090 shares of the company’s stock worth $911,010,000 after acquiring an additional 3,511,579 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Cardinal Health by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,592,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $563,922,000 after purchasing an additional 111,582 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Cardinal Health by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,483,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $546,724,000 after purchasing an additional 445,425 shares during the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Cardinal Health in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Cardinal Health from $220.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Cardinal Health from $195.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Barclays began coverage on Cardinal Health in a research note on Monday, December 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $243.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $221.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $224.73.

About Cardinal Health

Cardinal Health is a multinational healthcare services and products company headquartered in Dublin, Ohio. Tracing its roots to the early 1970s, the company has grown into a major provider of supply chain and distribution services for the healthcare sector. Cardinal Health operates across a range of service lines that support hospitals, health systems, pharmacies, physician offices and clinical laboratories.

The company’s core activities include the wholesale distribution of branded and generic pharmaceuticals, the supply and distribution of medical-surgical products, and the provision of logistics and inventory management solutions.