CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Short Interest Up 16.5% in June

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 20,640,000 shares, a growth of 16.5% from the May 31st total of 17,710,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 12,590,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days. Approximately 1.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CVS shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on CVS Health from $78.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Bank of America lowered their price objective on CVS Health from $95.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. TD Cowen downgraded CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Leerink Partnrs downgraded CVS Health from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Argus lowered their price objective on CVS Health from $100.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.05.

Insider Transactions at CVS Health

In related news, Director Edward J. Ludwig purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $53.88 per share, with a total value of $53,880.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 21,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,165,424.40. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CVS Health

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Atticus Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in CVS Health by 149.0% during the 4th quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 366 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas boosted its position in CVS Health by 573.2% during the 4th quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 377 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in CVS Health during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in CVS Health during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Steph & Co. boosted its position in CVS Health by 192.0% during the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 438 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CVS Health Stock Down 1.1 %

NYSE CVS opened at $57.52 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.21 billion, a PE ratio of 10.11, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.52. CVS Health has a 1 year low of $52.77 and a 1 year high of $83.25. The business’s 50-day moving average is $59.34 and its 200 day moving average is $70.02.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.38). The business had revenue of $88.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.33 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 13.53% and a net margin of 2.03%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.20 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that CVS Health will post 7.02 earnings per share for the current year.

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.