CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday after Wolfe Research raised their price target on the stock from $85.00 to $100.00. The stock had previously closed at $76.53, but opened at $79.14. Wolfe Research currently has an outperform rating on the stock. CVS Health shares last traded at $79.1990, with a volume of 4,167,525 shares traded.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Leerink Partners upped their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Zacks Research cut shares of CVS Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on CVS Health from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on CVS Health from $78.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.67.

Institutional Trading of CVS Health

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 1.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 120,399,131 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $8,305,132,000 after purchasing an additional 2,063,737 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox increased its holdings in CVS Health by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 73,459,122 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $4,976,856,000 after buying an additional 3,353,223 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 68,382,158 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $5,155,380,000 after buying an additional 1,419,575 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 58,938,286 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $4,443,357,000 after buying an additional 149,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,635,233 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,966,083,000 after acquiring an additional 675,824 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 206.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $78.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.59.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.24. CVS Health had a net margin of 0.12% and a return on equity of 11.45%. The firm had revenue of $102.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $98.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.09 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. CVS Health has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.550-6.650 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that CVS Health Corporation will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 23rd were given a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 23rd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is 700.00%.

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.