Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) Short Interest Up 41.9% in February

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,270,000 shares, a growth 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 daily volume of 2,230,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CAH shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $135.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Cardinal Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $150.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Cardinal Health from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $120.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cardinal Health has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $139.36.

Cardinal Health Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:CAH traded down $2.80 on Tuesday, hitting $126.38. The company had a trading volume of 2,545,085 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,395,843. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $125.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $118.51. The stock has a market cap of $30.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.63. Cardinal Health has a 1-year low of $93.17 and a 1-year high of $132.84.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.19. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.59% and a negative return on equity of 59.57%. Sell-side 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a $0.5056 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Cardinal Health’s payout ratio is presently 37.69%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cardinal Health

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV lifted its position in Cardinal Health by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV now owns 4,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $510,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lifted its position in Cardinal Health by 2,320.0% during the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 63,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,516,000 after purchasing an additional 60,923 shares during the period. Total Wealth Planning & Management Inc. bought a new stake in Cardinal Health during the fourth quarter worth about $594,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Cardinal Health during the fourth quarter worth about $23,175,000. Finally, Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV lifted its position in Cardinal Health by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 46,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,442,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Cardinal Health Company Profile

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.