CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $73.11.

A number of analysts have recently commented on CVS shares. Barclays lowered their target price on CVS Health from $82.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $59.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of CVS Health from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $66.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CVS opened at $54.65 on Tuesday. CVS Health has a 52 week low of $52.77 and a 52 week high of $83.25. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $59.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market cap of $68.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.55.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $91.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $91.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.21 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that CVS Health will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.87%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.33%.

Institutional Trading of CVS Health

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CVS. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CVS Health in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in CVS Health in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, First Community Trust NA grew its position in CVS Health by 116.2% in the second quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 562 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.