Piper Sandler Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Stock

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) had its target price increased by Piper Sandler from $72.00 to $74.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the pharmacy operator’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on CVS. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays raised their price target on CVS Health from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Argus set a $77.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.39.

CVS Health Stock Down 2.1 %

CVS stock opened at $67.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. CVS Health has a fifty-two week low of $43.56 and a fifty-two week high of $80.75. The business has a 50-day moving average of $60.60 and a 200-day moving average of $57.34.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.30. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.24% and a return on equity of 9.11%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CVS Health will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 72.68%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total transaction of $498,487.55. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $556,941.90. This represents a 47.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael F. Mahoney purchased 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $66.70 per share, for a total transaction of $2,001,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,625,045.20. This trade represents a 320.65 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CVS Health

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CVS. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the 4th quarter worth approximately $839,574,000. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in CVS Health by 26.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,039,777 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,739,927,000 after purchasing an additional 12,819,148 shares during the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 2,998.1% in the 4th quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 11,385,950 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $511,115,000 after purchasing an additional 11,018,438 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 70,105,899 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,147,054,000 after buying an additional 7,075,209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in CVS Health by 49.3% in the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 19,610,579 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $880,319,000 after buying an additional 6,475,271 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.