CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Shares Gap Up to $68.96

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $68.96, but opened at $71.66. CVS Health shares last traded at $69.86, with a volume of 1,656,876 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CVS has been the topic of several analyst reports. HSBC assumed coverage on CVS Health in a report on Friday, December 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on CVS Health from $83.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on CVS Health from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Barclays began coverage on shares of CVS Health in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $78.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.44.

CVS Health Stock Up 0.8 %

The company has a market cap of $87.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $75.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.86.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.11. CVS Health had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 2.33%. The company had revenue of $93.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.99 EPS. CVS Health’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 8.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 41.18%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total transaction of $2,267,947.35. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 39,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,059,916.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CVS Health

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in CVS Health by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,696,285 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $9,293,299,000 after purchasing an additional 533,659 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,544,702 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,201,410,000 after acquiring an additional 119,631 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 47.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 33,691,698 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,660,298,000 after acquiring an additional 10,837,801 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in CVS Health by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 33,576,388 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,128,984,000 after purchasing an additional 3,311,928 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dodge & Cox raised its holdings in CVS Health by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 30,413,390 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,401,441,000 after buying an additional 3,690,408 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

About CVS Health

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.