Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) Short Interest Up 21.1% in March

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 6,045,787 shares, a growth of 21.1% from the February 26th total of 4,994,109 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,951,550 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days. Approximately 2.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Cardinal Health

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Strategy Asset Managers LLC bought a new stake in Cardinal Health during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $775,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 15.3% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 37,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,938,000 after purchasing an additional 5,030 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of Cardinal Health during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,090,000. Atle Fund Management AB boosted its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 13.1% during the third quarter. Atle Fund Management AB now owns 30,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,755,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. grew its holdings in Cardinal Health by 10.8% during the third quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 196,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,790,000 after buying an additional 19,155 shares in the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on CAH. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $232.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Zacks Research raised shares of Cardinal Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Cardinal Health and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Cardinal Health from $237.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cardinal Health in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $245.67.

Cardinal Health Stock Performance

Shares of Cardinal Health stock traded up $4.96 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $211.27. 1,587,121 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,795,739. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $217.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $197.15. The stock has a market cap of $49.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.40, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.65. Cardinal Health has a 12 month low of $120.72 and a 12 month high of $233.60.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $65.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.88 billion. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 92.50% and a net margin of 0.68%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.93 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Cardinal Health will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Cardinal Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be given a $0.5107 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Cardinal Health’s payout ratio is 29.35%.

Cardinal Health Company Profile

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.