Short Interest in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Increases By 6.2%

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 18,500,000 shares, an increase of 6.2% from the August 15th total of 17,420,000 shares. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 9,210,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CVS. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in CVS Health by 48.3% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 8,151 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $654,000 after purchasing an additional 2,653 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of CVS Health in the fourth quarter worth $1,015,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,567 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,545,000 after acquiring an additional 1,598 shares during the period. Balentine LLC increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 8,430 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $666,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 306.6% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,046,216 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $240,529,000 after acquiring an additional 2,297,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CVS shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of CVS Health from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of CVS Health from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.10.

CVS Health Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of CVS traded up $0.55 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $58.97. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 654,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,902,499. CVS Health has a 52-week low of $52.77 and a 52-week high of $83.25. The company’s 50-day moving average is $58.33 and its 200-day moving average is $62.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.27, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.53.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.10. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.98% and a return on equity of 12.72%. The company had revenue of $91.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.21 earnings per share. CVS Health’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that CVS Health will post 6.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 22nd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.51%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 46.75%.

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.