CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Trading 1.5% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)’s stock price was up 1.5% on Tuesday after Evercore ISI raised their price target on the stock from $60.00 to $65.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. CVS Health traded as high as $57.33 and last traded at $57.03. Approximately 2,609,261 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 13,086,002 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.20.

Several other research firms also recently commented on CVS. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on CVS Health from $72.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on CVS Health from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CVS Health presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.12.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,989,066 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in 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 valued at $1,651,997,000 after buying an additional 461,569 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of CVS Health by 1.5% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 13,135,308 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $825,948,000 after acquiring an additional 198,920 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 2.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,208,668 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $767,681,000 after acquiring an additional 304,386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 34.8% during 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 during the period. 80.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CVS Health Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The business has a fifty day moving average of $51.27 and a 200-day moving average of $56.18. The company has a market cap of $71.73 billion, a PE ratio of 14.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.59.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.01. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The business had revenue of $95.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.21 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 5.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.67%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 67.51%.

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.