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

Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, sixteen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $74.40.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Argus set a $77.00 target price on CVS Health in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of CVS Health from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of CVS Health from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of CVS Health from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of CVS Health from $73.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday.

CVS Health Stock Performance

CVS Health stock opened at $67.09 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $66.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.60. CVS Health has a 52-week low of $43.56 and a 52-week high of $72.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.60.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.63. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.24% and a return on equity of 9.11%. The firm had revenue of $94.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that CVS Health will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.96%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is presently 63.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total value of $498,487.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $556,941.90. This trade represents a 47.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael F. Mahoney purchased 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $66.70 per share, for a total transaction of $2,001,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,625,045.20. This represents a 320.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CVS. Ridgewood Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 255.7% during the 4th quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 626 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of CVS Health in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 32.6% during the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 707 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Perspectives Inc boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 137.5% during the 4th quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 805 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 466 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is currently 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.