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

Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, sixteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $75.27.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CVS shares. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of CVS Health from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $55.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded CVS Health from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (up from $76.00) on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Argus set a $77.00 price objective on CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on CVS Health from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th.

CVS Health Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of CVS traded up $1.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $62.61. The company had a trading volume of 5,324,018 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,291,109. The company has a market capitalization of $79.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.60. CVS Health has a 52 week low of $43.56 and a 52 week high of $72.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $65.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.46.

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

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd were issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.25%. CVS Health's payout ratio is 63.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CVS Health

In other news, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total transaction of $498,487.55. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,394 shares of the company's stock, valued at $556,941.90. The trade was 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 available at this link. 1.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of CVS Health

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 0.8% during the first quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 20,705 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $1,403,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its position in CVS Health by 33.7% during the first quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 682 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its position in CVS Health by 32.6% during the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 707 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. boosted its position in CVS Health by 1.0% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 17,114 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $1,159,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in CVS Health by 3.7% during the first quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,930 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during 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.