CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Shares Down 0.5%

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)’s stock price traded down 0.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $56.71 and last traded at $57.13. 2,008,245 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 11,848,862 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.44.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of CVS Health from $76.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of CVS Health from $86.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of CVS Health from $95.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of CVS Health from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Argus cut their target price on shares of CVS Health from $100.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $76.75.

CVS Health Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $69.72 billion, a PE ratio of 9.76, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.91. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.38). CVS Health had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.53%. The firm had revenue of $88.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.20 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 7.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd were given a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.79%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 19th. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.75%.

Insider Activity

In other CVS Health news, Director Edward J. Ludwig purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $53.88 per share, with a total value of $53,880.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 21,630 shares in the company, valued at $1,165,424.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CVS Health

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 13.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 123,884 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $9,881,000 after purchasing an additional 14,551 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 190.9% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 407,844 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $32,530,000 after purchasing an additional 267,664 shares in the last quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. now owns 255,849 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $20,407,000 after purchasing an additional 3,325 shares in the last quarter. BigSur Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,679,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 97,348 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $7,764,000 after buying an additional 1,292 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.