Leerink Partnrs Increases Earnings Estimates for CVS Health

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) - Equities researchers at Leerink Partnrs lifted their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of CVS Health in a note issued to investors on Thursday, April 24th. Leerink Partnrs analyst M. Cherny now expects that the pharmacy operator will post earnings per share of $1.84 for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $1.62. Leerink Partnrs has a "Strong-Buy" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for CVS Health's current full-year earnings is $5.89 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for CVS Health's Q3 2025 earnings at $1.24 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $5.97 EPS.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share 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%.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on CVS Health from $51.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on CVS Health from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wolfe Research raised their target price on CVS Health from 67.00 to 70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Leerink Partners upgraded CVS Health from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the company from $55.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $71.83.

CVS Health Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE CVS traded down $0.41 on Friday, hitting $64.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,700,036 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,825,202. CVS Health has a 52-week low of $43.56 and a 52-week high of $71.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $66.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.77. The firm has a market cap of $81.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.74, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.57.

Institutional Trading of CVS Health

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CVS. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of CVS Health in the fourth quarter worth $839,574,000. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 26.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,039,777 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $2,739,927,000 after acquiring an additional 12,819,148 shares during the period. Davis Selected Advisers grew its holdings in CVS Health by 2,998.1% during the fourth quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 11,385,950 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $511,115,000 after purchasing an additional 11,018,438 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox increased its position in CVS Health by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 70,105,899 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $3,147,054,000 after buying an additional 7,075,209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $880,319,000 after buying an additional 6,475,271 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.66% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CVS Health news, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total value of $498,487.55. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,394 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $556,941.90. This trade represents a 47.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Michael F. Mahoney acquired 30,000 shares of the business's 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 acquisition, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,625,045.20. This trade represents a 320.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.22% of the company's stock.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 22nd. 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.