CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $65.09, but opened at $62.88. CVS Health shares last traded at $63.96, with a volume of 2,799,405 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CVS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on CVS Health from $72.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 25th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on CVS Health from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Four research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.00.

CVS Health Trading Down 1.9 %

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $52.11 and a 200-day moving average of $56.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.61.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 EPS 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.16%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CVS Health news, Director Michael F. Mahoney acquired 30,000 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $66.70 per share, with a total value of $2,001,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 39,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,625,045.20. This trade represents a 320.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CVS. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 124.1% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 61,744 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,882,000 after buying an additional 34,198 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in CVS Health by 49.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 47,708 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,000,000 after buying an additional 15,741 shares during the last quarter. McAdam LLC acquired a new stake in CVS Health in the 3rd quarter valued at $274,000. SOL Capital Management CO grew its position in shares of CVS Health by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. SOL Capital Management CO now owns 71,142 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $4,473,000 after acquiring an additional 9,075 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of CVS Health by 8,947.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,145,849 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $72,051,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133,184 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.