CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, sixteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $75.27.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CVS. Wall Street Zen raised CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Truist Financial raised their price target on CVS Health from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on CVS Health from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on CVS Health from $51.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on CVS Health from $73.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd.

CVS Health Price Performance

NYSE:CVS opened at $60.80 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.61, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.60. CVS Health has a 1 year low of $43.56 and a 1 year high of $72.51. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.63. The business had revenue of $94.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.07 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 9.11% and a net margin of 1.24%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that CVS Health will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd were issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.38%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.48%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of CVS Health 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $556,941.90. This trade represents a 47.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CVS. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC grew its stake in CVS Health by 49.9% during the 4th quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 4,836 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $217,000 after buying an additional 1,610 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in CVS Health by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 5,314 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 793 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in CVS Health by 47.2% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 28,801 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,293,000 after purchasing an additional 9,234 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC grew its stake in CVS Health by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 33,271 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,494,000 after purchasing an additional 4,024 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Southland Equity Partners LLC grew its stake in CVS Health by 44.0% during the 4th quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 4,985 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 1,523 shares during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.