CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Stock Price Up 1.5% on Analyst Upgrade

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) shares rose 1.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Evercore ISI raised their price target on the stock from $60.00 to $65.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. CVS Health traded as high as $57.33 and last traded at $57.03. Approximately 2,609,261 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 13,086,002 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.20.

CVS has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $75.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on CVS Health from $72.00 to $64.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised CVS Health from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $66.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on CVS Health from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on CVS Health from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $68.12.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CVS Health

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CVS. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 34.8% during 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 buying an additional 3,071,613 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 7,567.7% in the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 2,402,901 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $107,866,000 after acquiring an additional 2,371,563 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in CVS Health by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,527,909 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $3,554,475,000 after purchasing an additional 1,989,066 shares during the period. TOMS Capital Investment Management LP bought a new stake in CVS Health in the third quarter worth $121,987,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its position in CVS Health by 5,864.2% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,730,343 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $108,804,000 after buying an additional 1,701,331 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CVS Health Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $51.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.19. The stock has a market cap of $72.29 billion, a PE ratio of 14.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.59.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.21 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 5.22 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 23rd. CVS Health's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.51%.

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.