CVS Health Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:CVS)

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS – Get Rating) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Traders acquired 45,465 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 57% compared to the average daily volume of 28,941 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of CVS Health from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of CVS Health from $130.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 9th. TheStreet raised shares of CVS Health from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Friday, November 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of CVS Health in a report on Thursday, February 9th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group boosted their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $117.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $119.65.

CVS Health Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE CVS opened at $82.97 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $88.22 and a 200 day moving average of $94.49. The company has a market capitalization of $106.54 billion, a PE ratio of 26.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.65. CVS Health has a 1 year low of $81.22 and a 1 year high of $109.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 8th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.92 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $83.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $76.37 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.29% and a return on equity of 15.75%. The company’s revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.98 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that CVS Health will post 8.84 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 20th were paid a dividend of $0.605 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 19th. This represents a $2.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. This is a boost from CVS Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. CVS Health’s payout ratio is currently 77.56%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Thomas M. Moriarty sold 137,466 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.36, for a total transaction of $13,521,155.76. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 608,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,815,568.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CVS Health

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Live Oak Investment Partners purchased a new stake in CVS Health during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in CVS Health by 105.8% during the 3rd quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 284 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. purchased a new stake in CVS Health during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. VitalStone Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CVS Health in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Karp Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of CVS Health in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.29% of the company’s stock.

About CVS Health

(Get Rating)

CVS Health Corp. is a health solutions company, which 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 and Other. The Pharmacy Services segment focuses on the pharmacy benefit management solutions.