Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH – Get Rating) saw a significant growth in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 10,510,000 shares, a growth of 22.9% from the November 15th total of 8,550,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,160,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days. Currently, 4.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.
Cardinal Health Stock Up 0.0 %
CAH traded up $0.02 on Thursday, reaching $78.57. 3,130,920 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,876,910. Cardinal Health has a one year low of $48.41 and a one year high of $81.57. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.10. The company has a market cap of $20.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.81.
Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 4th. The company reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.24. Cardinal Health had a negative net margin of 0.59% and a negative return on equity of 252.82%. The company had revenue of $49.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $46.88 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Cardinal Health will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current year.
Cardinal Health Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.4957 per share. This represents a $1.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 30th. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.35%.
Insider Activity at Cardinal Health
In related news, insider Ola M. Snow sold 19,590 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.87, for a total transaction of $1,545,063.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 31,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,459,718.69. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAH. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Cardinal Health by 6,455.0% during the 1st quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,513,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,490,404 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Cardinal Health during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Cardinal Health during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. CX Institutional purchased a new position in Cardinal Health during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position in Cardinal Health by 29.5% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.07% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities analysts have commented on CAH shares. Credit Suisse Group lifted their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $64.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 22nd. Bank Of America (Bofa) raised shares of Cardinal Health from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $64.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 7th. Bank of America raised shares of Cardinal Health from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $64.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cardinal Health from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 11th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.45.
Cardinal Health Company Profile
Cardinal Health, Inc operates as an integrated 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.