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

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) 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.

Remove Ads

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.