CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $68.71.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen boosted their target price on CVS Health from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Evercore ISI upped their price target 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. StockNews.com cut shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price 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. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CVS Health

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 3,071,613 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 3.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,527,909 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,554,475,000 after purchasing an additional 1,989,066 shares in the last quarter. TOMS Capital Investment Management LP bought a new position in CVS Health during the third quarter valued at about $121,987,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of CVS Health by 5,864.2% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,730,343 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $108,804,000 after buying an additional 1,701,331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 33.5% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,289,788 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $310,722,000 after acquiring an additional 1,327,855 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CVS opened at $53.87 on Friday. CVS Health has a 12-month low of $43.56 and a 12-month high of $80.75. 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 company has a market cap of $67.79 billion, a PE ratio of 13.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.24.

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

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be given a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.94%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 67.51%.

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.