CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Receives “Market Perform” Rating from SVB Leerink

SVB Leerink restated their market perform rating on shares of CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) in a report published on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $60.00 target price on the pharmacy operator’s stock, down from their prior target price of $87.00.

CVS has been the subject of several other reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Barclays started coverage on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $78.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of CVS Health from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of CVS Health from $83.00 to $76.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed an outperform rating on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $86.28.

CVS Health Price Performance

CVS stock opened at $56.32 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $70.99 billion, a PE ratio of 8.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. CVS Health has a 12 month low of $54.00 and a 12 month high of $83.25. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $73.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.50.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $93.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.58 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.99 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that CVS Health will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.72%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CVS Health

In other CVS Health news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total transaction of $2,267,947.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 39,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,059,916.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Atticus Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in CVS Health by 149.0% during the 4th quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 366 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas increased its stake in CVS Health by 573.2% during the 4th quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 377 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CVS Health in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CVS Health in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Steph & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 192.0% in the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 438 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Company Profile

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.