CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $75.26.

CVS has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays raised shares of CVS Health from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $63.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Truist Financial raised their price target on CVS Health from $66.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. TD Cowen raised CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $59.00 to $85.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of CVS Health from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of CVS Health stock opened at $63.67 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $79.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.19, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.75. CVS Health has a 52 week low of $52.77 and a 52 week high of $83.25.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.10. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.98% and a return on equity of 12.72%. The firm had revenue of $91.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.41 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.21 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that CVS Health will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st will be given a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 132.9% during the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 12,936,388 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $764,023,000 after acquiring an additional 7,382,931 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of CVS Health by 12.5% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,917,923 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,024,334,000 after purchasing an additional 4,226,225 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 8.0% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 43,776,874 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,491,643,000 after purchasing an additional 3,232,172 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 402.5% in the second quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 2,005,677 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $118,455,000 after purchasing an additional 1,606,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new stake in CVS Health during the 1st quarter valued at about $110,816,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Company Profile

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.