CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Shares Up 0.3% – Here’s Why

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) shares shot up 0.3% on Friday . The company traded as high as $53.78 and last traded at $54.00. 2,044,456 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 13,126,470 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.82.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CVS. StockNews.com cut CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Truist Financial lowered 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded CVS Health from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $60.00 to $66.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on CVS Health from $72.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.71.

CVS Health Stock Up 1.1 %

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 firm has a market capitalization of $68.45 billion, a PE ratio of 13.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $51.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.22.

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

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business 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 $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 23rd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.51%.

Institutional Trading of CVS Health

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 9.7% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 410,001 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $25,781,000 after acquiring an additional 36,132 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 28.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 10,465 shares in the last quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. grew 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 valued at $7,125,000 after acquiring an additional 37,395 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 4.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,434,476 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $90,200,000 after acquiring an additional 66,244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 8.4% during the third quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 134,523 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $8,459,000 after acquiring an additional 10,453 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.