CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Shares Up 0.3% – Here’s Why

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)’s stock price was up 0.3% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $53.78 and last traded at $54.00. Approximately 2,044,456 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 13,126,470 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.82.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CVS shares. Truist Financial decreased their price target on CVS Health from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $62.00 price target on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded CVS Health from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $60.00 to $66.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on CVS Health from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on CVS Health from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.71.

CVS Health Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $68.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.81, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a fifty day moving average of $51.21 and a 200 day moving average of $56.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.01. CVS Health had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 1.36%. The firm had revenue of $95.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.21 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 5.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be given a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.89%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.51%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CVS Health

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in CVS Health by 9.7% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 410,001 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $25,781,000 after acquiring an additional 36,132 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in CVS Health by 28.7% in the third 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. Cullinan Associates Inc. lifted its stake in CVS Health by 43.8% in the third quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 122,682 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $7,125,000 after acquiring an additional 37,395 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in CVS Health by 4.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,434,476 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $90,200,000 after acquiring an additional 66,244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 8.4% in the third quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 134,523 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $8,459,000 after buying an additional 10,453 shares during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.