CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Trading Down 0.2% – Should You Sell?

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) shares traded down 0.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $55.25 and last traded at $56.35. 3,421,627 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 12,896,416 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.48.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CVS. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of CVS Health from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of CVS Health from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.12.

CVS Health Stock Performance

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’s fifty day moving average price is $51.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.61.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $95.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.72 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.21 EPS. Analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.78%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.51%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CVS. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in CVS Health in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC grew its position in shares of CVS Health by 255.7% in the 4th quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 626 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in CVS Health during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in CVS Health in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of CVS Health during the third quarter worth about $31,000. 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.