CDW Co. (NASDAQ:CDW) Short Interest Up 8.7% in December

CDW Co. (NASDAQ:CDW) was the target of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,880,000 shares, an increase of 8.7% from the December 15th total of 2,650,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,320,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days. Approximately 2.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of CDW from $229.00 to $201.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup downgraded CDW from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $250.00 to $245.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group reduced their price objective on CDW from $233.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on CDW in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $230.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of CDW from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $260.00 to $235.00 in a report on Monday, October 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.33.

Institutional Trading of CDW

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CDW. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in CDW by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 38,893 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $6,769,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of CDW by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,370 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $238,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd boosted its stake in CDW by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 801,516 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $139,496,000 after buying an additional 102,004 shares during the period. Atwood & Palmer Inc. grew its position in CDW by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 157,303 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $27,377,000 after buying an additional 559 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in CDW by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,065 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $359,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.15% of the company’s stock.

CDW Price Performance

NASDAQ CDW opened at $188.70 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $25.15 billion, a PE ratio of 23.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.91 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $178.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $204.97. CDW has a 52 week low of $168.43 and a 52 week high of $263.37.

CDW (NASDAQ:CDW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The information technology services provider reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.68 by ($0.05). CDW had a return on equity of 58.31% and a net margin of 5.33%. The business had revenue of $5.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.72 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.60 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that CDW will post 8.99 earnings per share for the current year.

CDW Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th were given a $0.625 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 25th. This is a boost from CDW’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. CDW’s payout ratio is 30.56%.

About CDW

CDW Corporation provides information technology (IT) solutions in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. It operates through three segments: Corporate, Small Business, and Public. The company offers discrete hardware and software products and services, as well as integrated IT solutions, including on-premise and cloud capabilities across hybrid infrastructure, digital experience, and security.