CDW Co. (NASDAQ:CDW) Short Interest Up 24.0% in February

CDW Co. (NASDAQ:CDW) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,460,000 shares, a growth of 24.0% from the February 13th total of 2,790,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,330,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days. Currently, 2.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their target price on CDW from $201.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of CDW from $193.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of CDW from $233.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CDW currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $242.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CDW

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in CDW in the 3rd quarter valued at about $416,111,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its position in CDW by 906.9% in the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 2,024,887 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $352,411,000 after acquiring an additional 1,823,788 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in CDW by 7,029.1% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,466,597 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $331,891,000 after acquiring an additional 1,446,025 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its position in CDW by 17,349.6% in the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,380,787 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $240,312,000 after acquiring an additional 1,372,874 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in CDW in the 4th quarter valued at about $144,826,000. Institutional investors own 93.15% of the company’s stock.

CDW Price Performance

CDW stock opened at $172.21 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.82 billion, a PE ratio of 21.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50-day moving average is $185.18 and its 200-day moving average is $194.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.24. CDW has a 1 year low of $162.84 and a 1 year high of $263.37.

CDW (NASDAQ:CDW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology services provider reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by $0.07. CDW had a net margin of 5.13% and a return on equity of 55.42%. Equities research analysts expect that CDW will post 9.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CDW Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.625 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. CDW’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.37%.

CDW declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $750.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 2.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

CDW Company Profile

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.