CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Trading Up 0.2% – Should You Buy?

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)’s share price shot up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $54.81 and last traded at $54.36. 1,511,097 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 12,323,856 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.24.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CVS shares. Mizuho reduced their price target on CVS Health from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Edward Jones upgraded CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.12.

CVS Health Stock Down 0.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $67.90 billion, a PE ratio of 13.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s fifty day moving average is $50.90 and its 200-day moving average is $56.02.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $95.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.72 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 1.36%. The business’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.21 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.93%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 67.51%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CVS Health

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of CVS Health by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,527,909 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,554,475,000 after purchasing an additional 1,989,066 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in CVS Health by 1.8% during the 3rd 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. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in CVS Health by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 13,135,308 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $825,948,000 after purchasing an additional 198,920 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,918,949 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $579,932,000 after purchasing an additional 710,281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its stake in CVS Health by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 11,897,034 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $748,085,000 after purchasing an additional 3,071,613 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

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.