CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Trading Down 2.9% – Here’s Why

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) traded down 2.9% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $54.03 and last traded at $54.08. 5,968,135 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 52% from the average session volume of 12,391,023 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.69.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho dropped their target price on CVS Health from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on CVS Health from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CVS Health currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.12.

CVS Health Trading Down 0.5 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $50.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.01. The stock has a market cap of $67.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.61.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $95.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.21 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.93%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.51%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cornerstone Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 29,300 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,315,000 after buying an additional 2,100 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its stake in CVS Health by 49.3% during the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 19,610,579 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $880,319,000 after acquiring an additional 6,475,271 shares in the last quarter. Marathon Trading Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 213.8% in the fourth quarter. Marathon Trading Investment Management LLC now owns 43,622 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,958,000 after purchasing an additional 29,722 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 165,314 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $7,421,000 after purchasing an additional 11,955 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 21.8% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 318,089 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $14,279,000 after purchasing an additional 56,895 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.