Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 7,780,000 shares, a decline of 6.8% from the September 15th total of 8,350,000 shares. Approximately 3.2% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,900,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.1 days.

Cardinal Health Stock Down 0.6 %

Cardinal Health stock traded down $0.62 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $111.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,359,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,090,336. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $104.00. The company has a market cap of $27.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.60. Cardinal Health has a fifty-two week low of $90.19 and a fifty-two week high of $116.05.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.10. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 54.85% and a net margin of 0.37%. The firm had revenue of $59.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $58.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Cardinal Health will post 7.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cardinal Health Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were issued a dividend of $0.506 per share. This is a positive change from Cardinal Health's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $2.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Cardinal Health's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Michelle D. Greene sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.85, for a total value of $435,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,242 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,094,491.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Cardinal Health news, insider Michelle D. Greene sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.85, for a total transaction of $435,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,242 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,094,491.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jessica L. Mayer sold 17,896 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.48, for a total transaction of $1,905,566.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 94,529 shares in the company, valued at $10,065,447.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 113,963 shares of company stock valued at $12,379,980. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cardinal Health

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CAH. Cultivar Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Cardinal Health during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cardinal Health in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Cardinal Health during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cardinal Health during the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Finally, New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in Cardinal Health during the 1st quarter worth $40,000. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup cut their price objective on Cardinal Health from $115.00 to $107.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cardinal Health from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $114.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cardinal Health has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $119.36.

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.