Royal Bank of Canada Has Lowered Expectations for CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Stock Price

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) had its target price decreased by Royal Bank of Canada from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the pharmacy operator’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on CVS. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of CVS Health from $66.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group increased their price target on CVS Health from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. TD Cowen raised CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $59.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on CVS Health from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.44.

CVS Health Price Performance

CVS opened at $53.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.60. CVS Health has a one year low of $52.71 and a one year high of $83.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.55.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 EPS 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 company had revenue of $95.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.72 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.21 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CVS Health will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st were issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.00%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.51%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of CVS Health during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in CVS Health in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in CVS Health in the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of CVS Health in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.