Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) Short Interest Down 7.2% in August

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,710,000 shares, a decrease of 7.2% from the July 31st total of 7,230,000 shares. Currently, 2.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,980,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $130.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Argus decreased their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cardinal Health from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $118.45.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Michelle D. Greene sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.85, for a total transaction of $435,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,242 shares in the company, valued at $2,094,491.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Jessica L. Mayer sold 16,573 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.39, for a total transaction of $1,812,920.47. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 75,971 shares in the company, valued at $8,310,467.69. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Michelle D. Greene sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.85, for a total transaction of $435,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,242 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,094,491.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,963 shares of company stock worth $12,379,980 over the last 90 days. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cardinal Health

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 86.8% in the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 69,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,998,000 after buying an additional 32,250 shares in the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. grew its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 237.7% in the 4th quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 171,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,290,000 after buying an additional 120,740 shares in the last quarter. Tobam grew its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 773.4% in the 1st quarter. Tobam now owns 49,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,496,000 after buying an additional 43,488 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 220,661 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,243,000 after buying an additional 24,222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 101.1% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 321,558 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,010,000 after buying an additional 161,656 shares in the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cardinal Health Price Performance

Shares of CAH stock opened at $112.72 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.10, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $101.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $103.61. Cardinal Health has a one year low of $85.82 and a one year high of $116.04.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $59.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.74 billion. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.37% and a negative return on equity of 54.85%. Cardinal Health’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Cardinal Health will post 7.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.506 per share. This represents a $2.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. This is a boost from Cardinal Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.78%.

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.