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

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS – Get Rating) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $119.13.

A number of brokerages recently commented on CVS. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on CVS Health from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of CVS Health from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 3rd. TheStreet raised CVS Health from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Friday, November 25th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on CVS Health from $122.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on CVS Health from $106.00 to $101.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 3rd.

CVS Health Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:CVS opened at $86.02 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $95.33 and its 200 day moving average is $96.94. CVS Health has a 1 year low of $85.92 and a 1 year high of $111.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 2nd. The pharmacy operator reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.10. CVS Health had a return on equity of 15.56% and a net margin of 1.00%. The company had revenue of $81.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $76.53 billion. On average, research analysts predict that CVS Health will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 20th will be given a $0.605 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 19th. This is a positive change from CVS Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is 102.98%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Thomas M. Moriarty sold 137,466 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.36, for a total value of $13,521,155.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 608,129 shares in the company, valued at $59,815,568.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CVS Health

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BRYN MAWR TRUST Co raised its holdings in CVS Health by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. BRYN MAWR TRUST Co now owns 6,459 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $598,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY raised its holdings in CVS Health by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 3,136 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in CVS Health by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,714 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $159,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. IFG Advisors LLC raised its holdings in CVS Health by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. IFG Advisors LLC now owns 2,667 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $254,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. Finally, First National Trust Co raised its holdings in CVS Health by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 3,640 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.29% of the company’s stock.

About CVS Health

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CVS Health Corp. engages in the provision of healthcare services. It operates through the following segments: Pharmacy Services, Retail or Long-Term Care, Health Care Benefits, and Corporate/Other. The Pharmacy Services segment offers pharmacy benefit management solutions. The Retail or Long-Term Care segment includes the sale of prescription drugs and an assortment of health and wellness products, and general merchandise.