CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Upgraded to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their target price on CVS Health from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. UBS Group upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $67.00 to $79.00 in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of CVS Health in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $71.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.25.

CVS Health Stock Up 1.7%

NYSE CVS opened at $76.44 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. CVS Health has a 52 week low of $43.56 and a 52 week high of $76.92. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.77. The firm has a market cap of $96.96 billion, a PE ratio of 21.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.62.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $98.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.87 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 10.51% and a net margin of 1.17%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.83 earnings per share. CVS Health has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.300-6.400 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CVS Health will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, October 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 23rd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CVS Health

In other CVS Health news, Director Anne A. Finucane sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.02, for a total transaction of $532,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 22,156 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,573,519.12. This represents a 25.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CVS Health

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CVS. Avion Wealth raised its position in CVS Health by 99.0% in the second quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 380 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CVS Health in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 119.8% during the first quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 455 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC increased its holdings in CVS Health by 436.5% in the second quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 456 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC increased its holdings in CVS Health by 78.3% in the second quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC now owns 460 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.