Royal Bank of Canada Issues Positive Forecast for CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Stock Price

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) had its price objective upped by Royal Bank of Canada from $74.00 to $81.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the pharmacy operator’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Argus set a $77.00 price target on CVS Health in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI raised 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. Edward Jones raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.13.

CVS Health Stock Performance

NYSE CVS opened at $67.09 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $84.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.33, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.81. CVS Health has a 12-month low of $43.56 and a 12-month high of $72.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.63. The business had revenue of $94.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.07 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.24% and a return on equity of 9.11%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that CVS Health will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 22nd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.48%.

Insider Transactions at CVS Health

In other news, Director Michael F. Mahoney purchased 30,000 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $66.70 per share, for a total transaction of $2,001,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,625,045.20. This trade represents a 320.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total value of $498,487.55. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,394 shares in the company, valued at $556,941.90. This trade represents a 47.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 20,705 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,403,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its stake in CVS Health by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 707 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. raised its position in CVS Health by 1.0% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 17,114 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,159,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in CVS Health by 3.7% during the first quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,930 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN increased its position in shares of CVS Health by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 2,610 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $177,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.