CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) shares gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $45.28, but opened at $44.29. CVS Health shares last traded at $44.53, with a volume of 1,682,907 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CVS has been the topic of several recent research reports. 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. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of CVS Health from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on CVS Health from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded CVS Health from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $66.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CVS Health has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.50.

CVS Health Trading Up 1.3 %

The firm has a market cap of $55.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.24.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $95.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.72 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 1.36%. CVS Health’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.21 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CVS. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 132.9% during the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 12,936,388 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $764,023,000 after purchasing an additional 7,382,931 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 worth $748,085,000 after acquiring an additional 3,071,613 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,527,909 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,554,475,000 after acquiring an additional 1,989,066 shares during the last quarter. TOMS Capital Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the 3rd quarter worth about $121,987,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its stake in CVS Health by 5,864.2% during the third 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. 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.