CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Leerink Partnrs

Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for CVS Health’s FY2027 earnings at $8.23 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $9.36 EPS.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on CVS Health from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Edward Jones raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of CVS Health from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on CVS Health from $60.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CVS Health currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.28.

CVS Health Trading Up 4.9 %

Shares of CVS Health stock opened at $66.35 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.94. The firm has a market cap of $83.49 billion, a PE ratio of 16.84, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.61. CVS Health has a 1 year low of $43.56 and a 1 year high of $80.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.30. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 10.72%. Analysts expect that CVS Health will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.01%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.51%.

Institutional Trading of CVS Health

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 124.1% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 61,744 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,882,000 after purchasing an additional 34,198 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 61.9% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 14,853 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $934,000 after buying an additional 5,679 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 23.5% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 250,891 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $15,776,000 after buying an additional 47,737 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the third quarter valued at approximately $101,000. Finally, Secure Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in CVS Health by 38.4% in the 3rd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 29,247 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,839,000 after acquiring an additional 8,121 shares during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is 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.