CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Cut to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

CVS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on CVS Health from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on CVS Health from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Bernstein Bank cut their price objective on CVS Health from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Baird R W raised CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $71.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.89.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CVS opened at $73.93 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $66.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.14. CVS Health has a 52 week low of $43.56 and a 52 week high of $74.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.76 billion, a PE ratio of 20.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.62.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.35. CVS Health had a return on equity of 10.51% and a net margin of 1.17%.The firm had revenue of $98.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. CVS Health has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.300-6.400 EPS. Analysts predict that CVS Health will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 22nd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Anne A. Finucane sold 7,500 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.02, for a total transaction of $532,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 22,156 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,573,519.12. This trade represents a 25.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.22% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CVS Health

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in CVS Health by 503.8% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,896,341 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $128,477,000 after acquiring an additional 1,582,257 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in CVS Health by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 648,266 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $43,920,000 after acquiring an additional 129,535 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in CVS Health by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,981,262 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $608,481,000 after acquiring an additional 183,813 shares in the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in CVS Health by 20.1% in the 1st quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 3,421,519 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $231,808,000 after acquiring an additional 572,533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its holdings in CVS Health by 122.5% in the 1st quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 565,152 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $38,289,000 after acquiring an additional 311,098 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CVS Health Company Profile

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.