CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, sixteen have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $72.87.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler upped their target price on CVS Health from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of CVS Health in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of CVS Health from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on CVS Health from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Argus set a $77.00 target price on CVS Health in a report on Tuesday, February 18th.

CVS Health Stock Down 2.8 %

CVS Health stock traded down $1.96 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $67.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 14,303,584 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,508,896. CVS Health has a 52-week low of $43.56 and a 52-week high of $72.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.44, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $66.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.83.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.63. The company had revenue of $94.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.07 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.24% and a return on equity of 9.11%. CVS Health's revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that CVS Health will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 22nd. CVS Health's dividend payout ratio is currently 72.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Michael F. Mahoney purchased 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $66.70 per share, with a total value of $2,001,000.00. Following the purchase, 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total transaction of $498,487.55. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $556,941.90. The trade was a 47.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of CVS Health

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health in the 4th quarter worth approximately $839,574,000. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in CVS Health by 26.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,039,777 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $2,739,927,000 after purchasing an additional 12,819,148 shares in the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers grew its position in CVS Health by 2,998.1% in the 4th quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 11,385,950 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $511,115,000 after acquiring an additional 11,018,438 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 70,105,899 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $3,147,054,000 after buying an additional 7,075,209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 49.3% in the fourth 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. 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.