CVS Health Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:CVS)

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) was the target of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock traders purchased 56,549 call options on the company. This is an increase of 28% compared to the typical volume of 44,235 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in CVS Health during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in CVS Health in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in CVS Health during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of CVS Health in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, First Community Trust NA grew its position in shares of CVS Health by 116.2% during the second quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 562 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CVS opened at $55.82 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $59.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.60. CVS Health has a 52-week low of $52.71 and a 52-week high of $83.25. The company has a market cap of $70.24 billion, a PE ratio of 14.17, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.55.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $95.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.72 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 1.36%. The company’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.21 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that CVS Health will post 5.48 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st were issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 67.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CVS. UBS Group boosted their price objective on CVS Health from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of CVS Health from $66.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of CVS Health from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $66.00 in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on CVS Health from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.78.

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.