CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Price Target Raised to $71.00

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) had its price target increased by Robert W. Baird from $51.00 to $71.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the pharmacy operator’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on CVS. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group decreased their price target on CVS Health from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Leerink Partners raised shares of CVS Health from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of CVS Health from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CVS Health currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.83.

CVS Health Stock Down 2.0 %

CVS Health stock opened at $67.19 on Tuesday. CVS Health has a twelve month low of $43.56 and a twelve month high of $71.45. The stock has a market cap of $84.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $66.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.30. CVS Health had a return on equity of 9.11% and a net margin of 1.24%. As a group, analysts expect that CVS Health will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.96%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.68%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total transaction of $498,487.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,394 shares in the company, valued at $556,941.90. This trade represents a 47.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael F. Mahoney bought 30,000 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $66.70 per share, for a total transaction of $2,001,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,625,045.20. The trade was a 320.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CVS Health

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in CVS Health by 4.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,434,476 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $90,200,000 after buying an additional 66,244 shares during the period. Hall Laurie J Trustee increased its stake in CVS Health by 25,484.4% in the fourth quarter. Hall Laurie J Trustee now owns 11,513 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $517,000 after purchasing an additional 11,468 shares in the last quarter. B&D White Capital Company LLC acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health during the fourth quarter valued at about $417,000. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC now owns 7,302 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $334,000 after buying an additional 650 shares during the period. Finally, Seizert Capital Partners LLC increased its position in CVS Health by 22.8% in the 4th quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 569,527 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $25,566,000 after buying an additional 105,708 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.