CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-two ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $74.55.

Several brokerages have recently commented on CVS. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on CVS Health from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Mizuho reduced their price objective on CVS Health from $86.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Baird R W raised CVS Health to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on CVS Health from $101.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, SVB Leerink reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective (down from $87.00) on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st.

CVS Health Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of CVS Health stock opened at $59.32 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $74.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.79. CVS Health has a fifty-two week low of $52.77 and a fifty-two week high of $83.25.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.38). CVS Health had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.53%. The company had revenue of $88.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that CVS Health will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Monday, July 22nd were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 22nd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.48%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.75%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CVS Health

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Procyon Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 3,689 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 31,846 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,466,000 after acquiring an additional 788 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 174,752 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $13,798,000 after acquiring an additional 6,849 shares in the last quarter. Forum Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in CVS Health during the fourth quarter worth about $340,000. Finally, AMI Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. AMI Asset Management Corp now owns 13,496 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,066,000 after acquiring an additional 1,874 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.