CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Stock Price Up 1.1% – Time to Buy?

Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) rose 1.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $52.48 and last traded at $52.55. Approximately 3,188,072 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 13,691,771 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.96.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of CVS Health from $72.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Truist Financial reduced their target price 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. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of CVS Health from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of CVS Health in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.71.

CVS Health Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $66.35 billion, a PE ratio of 13.40, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.59. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $51.49 and its 200-day moving average is $56.39.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its quarterly 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $92.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.21 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 5.22 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.05%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is 67.51%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CVS. State Street Corp raised its position in CVS Health by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,527,909 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,554,475,000 after buying an additional 1,989,066 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in CVS Health by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,361,673 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,651,997,000 after purchasing an additional 461,569 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 1.5% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 13,135,308 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $825,948,000 after purchasing an additional 198,920 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in CVS Health by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,208,668 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $767,681,000 after buying an additional 304,386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 11,897,034 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $748,085,000 after buying an additional 3,071,613 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.