CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Price Target Cut to $63.00 by Analysts at Barclays

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) had its target price trimmed by Barclays from $78.00 to $63.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the pharmacy operator’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on CVS. UBS Group downgraded shares of CVS Health from a buy rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Thursday. SVB Leerink restated a market perform rating and issued a $60.00 price objective (down previously from $87.00) on shares of CVS Health in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $86.00 to $72.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of CVS Health from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CVS Health has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $80.35.

CVS Health Price Performance

CVS stock opened at $55.90 on Thursday. CVS Health has a 1 year low of $53.70 and a 1 year high of $83.25. The company has a market cap of $70.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.82, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $72.77 and a 200 day moving average of $73.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.38). CVS Health had a return on equity of 13.53% and a net margin of 2.03%. The company had revenue of $88.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.20 earnings per share. CVS Health’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that CVS Health will post 7.03 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.76%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.75%.

Insider Activity at CVS Health

In related news, Director Edward J. Ludwig acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $53.88 per share, for a total transaction of $53,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,630 shares in the company, valued at $1,165,424.40. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other CVS Health news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total value of $2,267,947.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,765 shares in the company, valued at $3,059,916.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Edward J. Ludwig purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $53.88 per share, for a total transaction of $53,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,165,424.40. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC raised its position in CVS Health by 74.0% in the third quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 43,213 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,017,000 after acquiring an additional 18,385 shares during the period. Value Partners Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 26.5% during the 3rd quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 991,601 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $69,261,000 after purchasing an additional 207,702 shares during the period. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC now owns 50,488 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,525,000 after purchasing an additional 774 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 10,405 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $726,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the period. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 19,355 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,351,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.