CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on CVS Health from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Bernstein Bank decreased their price target on CVS Health from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Zacks Research lowered CVS Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Robert W. Baird raised CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $71.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on CVS Health from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.89.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of CVS Health stock opened at $75.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $95.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.62. 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 50 day moving average price of $67.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.30. CVS Health has a one year low of $43.56 and a one year high of $75.55.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $98.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.87 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 10.51% and a net margin of 1.17%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.83 EPS. CVS Health has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.300-6.400 EPS. Equities analysts expect that CVS Health will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CVS Health news, Director Anne A. Finucane sold 7,500 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction 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 $1,573,519.12. The trade was a 25.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Avion Wealth increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 99.0% in the 2nd quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 380 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CVS Health in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 119.8% in the 1st quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 455 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the period. Front Row Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 436.5% in the 2nd quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 456 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the period. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 78.3% in the 2nd quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC now owns 460 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. 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.