Investors Buy Large Volume of CVS Health Call Options (NYSE:CVS)

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders bought 56,549 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 28% compared to the average volume of 44,235 call options.

CVS Health Trading Up 5.4 %

Shares of CVS opened at $56.08 on Tuesday. CVS Health has a 12 month low of $52.71 and a 12 month high of $83.25. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $59.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $70.57 billion, a PE ratio of 14.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.55.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.01. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The business had revenue of $95.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.21 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that CVS Health will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.74%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. CVS Health’s payout ratio is currently 67.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of CVS Health from $66.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $62.00 price objective on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CVS Health currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.78.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in CVS Health by 1.3% in the third quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 100,789 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $6,338,000 after buying an additional 1,342 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 28.7% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 46,938 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,951,000 after acquiring an additional 10,465 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 124.6% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 1,508,071 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $94,828,000 after acquiring an additional 836,569 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in CVS Health by 27.8% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,400 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,084,000 after purchasing an additional 3,788 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,361,673 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,651,997,000 after purchasing an additional 461,569 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by 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.