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

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $69.82.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial raised their price objective on CVS Health from $60.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on CVS Health from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Edward Jones upgraded CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on CVS Health from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th.

Insider Transactions at CVS Health

In other news, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total transaction of $498,487.55. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $556,941.90. The trade was a 47.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael F. Mahoney acquired 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $66.70 per share, with a total value of $2,001,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 39,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,625,045.20. The trade was a 320.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CVS Health

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CVS. Norges Bank bought a new stake in CVS Health in the fourth quarter valued at about $839,574,000. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in CVS Health by 26.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,039,777 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,739,927,000 after buying an additional 12,819,148 shares during the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers increased its holdings in CVS Health by 2,998.1% in the fourth quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 11,385,950 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $511,115,000 after buying an additional 11,018,438 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox increased its holdings in CVS Health by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 70,105,899 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,147,054,000 after buying an additional 7,075,209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in CVS Health by 49.3% in the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 19,610,579 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $880,319,000 after acquiring an additional 6,475,271 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CVS Health Price Performance

CVS stock opened at $66.34 on Monday. CVS Health has a 52-week low of $43.56 and a 52-week high of $80.75. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.30. CVS Health had a return on equity of 9.11% and a net margin of 1.24%. Equities research analysts expect that CVS Health will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 23rd. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 72.68%.

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.