Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) Short Interest Up 20.7% in December

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,770,000 shares, an increase of 20.7% from the November 30th total of 4,780,000 shares. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,170,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Cardinal Health Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:CAH traded up $0.35 on Tuesday, hitting $118.27. The stock had a trading volume of 1,199,864 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,106,356. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $118.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $110.00. The stock has a market cap of $28.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $52.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $50.90 billion. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 56.56% and a net margin of 0.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.73 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Cardinal Health will post 7.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Cardinal Health Cuts Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised Cardinal Health from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $101.00 to $127.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Argus increased their target price on Cardinal Health from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $117.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on Cardinal Health in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $139.00 target price for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cardinal Health presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $127.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Cardinal Health during the third quarter worth $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Cardinal Health by 69.8% during the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Cardinal Health in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Cardinal Health during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, AM Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

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.