CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $73.24.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $66.00 price objective (down from $90.00) on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Leerink Partners reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $60.00 price target (down from $87.00) on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of CVS Health from $86.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of CVS Health from $101.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CVS Health

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CVS. USA Financial Formulas grew its stake in CVS Health by 573.2% in the 4th quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 377 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the period. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in CVS Health in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. First Community Trust NA grew its stake in CVS Health by 116.2% in the 2nd quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 562 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the period. Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in CVS Health in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Steph & Co. boosted its stake in CVS Health by 192.0% during the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 438 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Stock Performance

CVS stock opened at $57.24 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $71.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.06, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.76. CVS Health has a one year low of $52.77 and a one year high of $83.25.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $91.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $91.41 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.53%. CVS Health’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.21 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that CVS Health will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Monday, July 22nd were paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 22nd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.65%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.75%.

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.