CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Shares Gap Up to $68.96

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) shares gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $68.96, but opened at $71.66. CVS Health shares last traded at $69.86, with a volume of 1,656,876 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on CVS. StockNews.com downgraded shares of CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Barclays began coverage on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $78.00 price objective for the company. HSBC began coverage on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. SVB Leerink began coverage on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $88.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.44.

CVS Health Stock Down 0.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.73. The company has a market cap of $86.44 billion, a PE ratio of 10.62, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.52.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.11. CVS Health had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The company had revenue of $93.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 8.32 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.88%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.18%.

Insider Transactions at CVS Health

In other news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total transaction of $2,267,947.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 39,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,059,916.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CVS Health

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P boosted its position in CVS Health by 92.9% during the first quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P now owns 377,875 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $38,245,000 after acquiring an additional 181,966 shares during the last quarter. United Bank boosted its position in CVS Health by 7.2% during the first quarter. United Bank now owns 18,658 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,888,000 after acquiring an additional 1,260 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its position in CVS Health by 4,063.8% during the first quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 12,075 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,222,000 after acquiring an additional 11,785 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its position in CVS Health by 116.9% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 2,572 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 1,386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ergoteles LLC acquired a new position in CVS Health during the first quarter worth about $1,551,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

About CVS Health

CVS Health Corporation provides health solutions in the United States. It operates through Health Care Benefits, Health Services, and Pharmacy & Consumer Wellness segments. The Health Care Benefits segment offers traditional, voluntary, and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services.