CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Trading Up 1.5% After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) rose 1.5% during trading on Tuesday after Evercore ISI raised their price target on the stock from $60.00 to $65.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. CVS Health traded as high as $57.33 and last traded at $57.03. Approximately 2,609,261 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 13,086,002 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.20.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on CVS. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on CVS Health from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays cut their price target on shares of CVS Health from $75.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of CVS Health from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.12.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CVS Health

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CVS. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $748,085,000 after purchasing an additional 3,071,613 shares during the period. ARGA Investment Management LP raised its holdings in CVS Health by 7,567.7% in the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 2,402,901 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $107,866,000 after acquiring an additional 2,371,563 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,989,066 shares during the last quarter. TOMS Capital Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of CVS Health in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $121,987,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of CVS Health by 5,864.2% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,730,343 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $108,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,701,331 shares during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CVS Health Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.19. The company has a market capitalization of $71.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.48, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $95.43 billion during 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 company’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.21 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 5.22 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. 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 4.66%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.