CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Shares Up 2.9% – Time to Buy?

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)’s share price traded up 2.9% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $53.95 and last traded at $53.85. 3,102,539 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 13,178,004 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.33.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of CVS Health from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $66.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on CVS Health from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on CVS Health from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.71.

CVS Health Trading Up 2.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $51.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.24. The company has a market cap of $67.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.59.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $95.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.72 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 5.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.97%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is 67.51%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CVS Health

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 410,001 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $25,781,000 after buying an additional 36,132 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of CVS Health by 28.7% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 46,938 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,951,000 after purchasing an additional 10,465 shares during the last quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 43.8% during the third quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 122,682 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $7,125,000 after purchasing an additional 37,395 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,434,476 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $90,200,000 after purchasing an additional 66,244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in CVS Health by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 134,523 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $8,459,000 after purchasing an additional 10,453 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.