Investors Buy Large Volume of Put Options on CVS Health (NYSE:CVS)

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors acquired 122,130 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 134% compared to the average daily volume of 52,206 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CVS Health

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 66,244 shares during the period. Old North State Trust LLC acquired a new stake in CVS Health in the third quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 52.2% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 112,010 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $7,043,000 after purchasing an additional 38,408 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in CVS Health in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,071,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of CVS Health by 280.7% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 27,543 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $1,732,000 after acquiring an additional 20,308 shares during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CVS has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded CVS Health from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $67.00 price objective (down from $76.00) on shares of CVS Health in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of CVS Health from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised CVS Health from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $66.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on CVS Health from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, CVS Health has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $69.12.

CVS Health Stock Performance

NYSE CVS traded up $0.67 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $44.92. 11,331,854 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,649,686. The company has a market cap of $56.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.54. CVS Health has a 12-month low of $43.56 and a 12-month high of $83.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $54.92 and a 200 day moving average of $57.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.01. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The business had revenue of $95.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.21 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CVS Health will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

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.