CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Earns Buy Rating from Truist Financial

Truist Financial restated their buy rating on shares of CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) in a research note released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $67.00 target price on the pharmacy operator’s stock, down from their prior target price of $76.00.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. TD Cowen raised CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $59.00 to $85.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of CVS Health from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. One 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.28.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of CVS opened at $58.01 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $59.21 and its 200-day moving average is $58.61. CVS Health has a 12-month low of $52.71 and a 12-month high of $83.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.55.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.01. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The firm had revenue of $95.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.21 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that CVS Health will post 5.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st were given a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. CVS Health’s payout ratio is currently 67.51%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CVS Health

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CVS. State Street Corp raised its position in CVS Health by 3.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,527,909 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,554,475,000 after acquiring an additional 1,989,066 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,361,673 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,651,997,000 after purchasing an additional 461,569 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 13,135,308 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $825,948,000 after purchasing an additional 198,920 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,208,668 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $767,681,000 after purchasing an additional 304,386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 34.8% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 11,897,034 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $748,085,000 after purchasing an additional 3,071,613 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is currently 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.