StockNews.com Downgrades CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) to Sell

StockNews.com cut shares of CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning.

Several other brokerages have also commented on CVS. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 price target on shares of CVS Health in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of CVS Health from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of CVS Health from $75.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $85.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CVS Health presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.44.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CVS opened at $53.19 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $66.93 billion, a PE ratio of 13.50, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $59.23 and a 200 day moving average of $58.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.80. CVS Health has a one year low of $52.71 and a one year high of $83.25.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $95.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.72 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.21 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that CVS Health will post 5.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st were given 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 yield of 5.00%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is currently 67.51%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in CVS Health by 3.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,527,909 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,554,475,000 after buying an additional 1,989,066 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in CVS Health by 8.0% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 43,776,874 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,491,643,000 after buying an additional 3,232,172 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of CVS Health by 12.5% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,917,923 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,024,334,000 after purchasing an additional 4,226,225 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of CVS Health by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,361,673 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,651,997,000 after purchasing an additional 461,569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of CVS Health by 1.4% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,143,822 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,048,351,000 after purchasing an additional 184,297 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

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.