Short Interest in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Rises By 13.5%

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) saw a significant growth in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 19,750,000 shares, a growth of 13.5% from the September 15th total of 17,400,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 9,330,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C purchased a new position in CVS Health in the second quarter valued at $57,584,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 27.9% in the second quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 665,451 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $39,302,000 after purchasing an additional 145,158 shares during the period. Steph & Co. lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 192.0% during the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 438 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 698.0% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 74,609 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $4,691,000 after buying an additional 65,259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 1,084,256 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $86,480,000 after buying an additional 16,840 shares during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CVS Health Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE CVS opened at $65.01 on Thursday. CVS Health has a twelve month low of $52.77 and a twelve month high of $83.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.61 billion, a PE ratio of 11.43, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.54.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.10. CVS Health had a return on equity of 12.72% and a net margin of 1.98%. The business had revenue of $91.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.21 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that CVS Health will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st will be issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.09%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CVS shares. Barclays upgraded CVS Health from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $63.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on CVS Health from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. TD Cowen upgraded CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $59.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on CVS Health from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.26.

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.