Investors Buy Large Volume of CVS Health Put Options (NYSE:CVS)

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors purchased 122,130 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 134% compared to the average volume of 52,206 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CVS. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of CVS Health from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $66.00 in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on CVS Health from $72.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 25th. StockNews.com cut CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on CVS Health from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.12.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CVS Health in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of CVS Health in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in CVS Health in the third quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in CVS Health during the third quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of CVS Health stock opened at $44.49 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. CVS Health has a 52 week low of $43.56 and a 52 week high of $83.25. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $54.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.67. The company has a market capitalization of $55.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.29, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.54.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.01. CVS Health had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 1.36%. The business had revenue of $95.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.21 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that CVS Health will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.