UBS Group Lowers CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) to Neutral

UBS Group lowered shares of CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. UBS Group currently has $60.00 price target on the pharmacy operator’s stock, down from their previous price target of $85.00.

CVS has been the subject of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on CVS Health from $83.00 to $76.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Barclays assumed coverage on CVS Health in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an equal weight rating and a $78.00 target price for the company. SVB Leerink restated a market perform rating and set a $60.00 target price (down previously from $87.00) on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded CVS Health from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and cut their target price for the stock from $87.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded CVS Health from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CVS Health has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $80.35.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CVS opened at $55.90 on Thursday. CVS Health has a 1-year low of $53.70 and a 1-year high of $83.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.18 billion, a PE ratio of 9.82, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50 day moving average is $72.77 and its 200-day moving average is $73.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.38). CVS Health had a return on equity of 13.53% and a net margin of 2.03%. The firm had revenue of $88.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.20 EPS. CVS Health’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that CVS Health will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.76%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 19th. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.75%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total transaction of $2,267,947.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 39,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,059,916.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total value of $2,267,947.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 39,765 shares in the company, valued at $3,059,916.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Edward J. Ludwig acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $53.88 per share, with a total value of $53,880.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 21,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,165,424.40. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CVS Health

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,696,285 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $9,293,299,000 after acquiring an additional 533,659 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,544,702 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,201,410,000 after acquiring an additional 119,631 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 47.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 33,691,698 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,660,298,000 after acquiring an additional 10,837,801 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 29.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 27,487,238 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,919,159,000 after acquiring an additional 6,194,441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 2.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,214,296 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $992,442,000 after acquiring an additional 305,564 shares in the last quarter. 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.