CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Trading 1.5% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) shares rose 1.5% on Tuesday after Evercore ISI raised their price target on the stock from $60.00 to $65.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. CVS Health traded as high as $57.33 and last traded at $57.03. Approximately 2,609,261 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 13,086,002 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.20.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on CVS Health from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of CVS Health from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $60.00 to $66.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.12.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CVS Health

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of CVS Health during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC raised its position in CVS Health by 255.7% in the fourth quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 626 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in CVS Health during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of CVS Health in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $51.24 and a 200 day moving average of $56.19. The firm has a market cap of $72.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.80.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $95.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.72 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.21 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 5.22 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.63%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 23rd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.51%.

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.