Analysts Set CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Price Target at $69.82

Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seventeen have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $69.82.

CVS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of CVS Health from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th.

CVS Health Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of CVS opened at $65.63 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $58.47 and its 200 day moving average is $57.00. CVS Health has a fifty-two week low of $43.56 and a fifty-two week high of $80.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.75 billion, a PE ratio of 17.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.81.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.30. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.24% and a return on equity of 9.11%. Sell-side analysts expect that CVS Health will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 23rd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total transaction of $498,487.55. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $556,941.90. This trade represents a 47.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Michael F. Mahoney purchased 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $66.70 per share, for a total transaction of $2,001,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 39,356 shares in the company, valued at $2,625,045.20. The trade was a 320.65 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CVS Health

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dodge & Cox increased its holdings in CVS Health by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 70,105,899 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,147,054,000 after purchasing an additional 7,075,209 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of CVS Health by 26.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,039,777 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,739,927,000 after acquiring an additional 12,819,148 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of CVS Health by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,527,909 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,554,475,000 after acquiring an additional 1,989,066 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of CVS Health by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,051,540 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,211,582,000 after acquiring an additional 689,867 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of CVS Health by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 26,666,401 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,196,989,000 after acquiring an additional 1,212,126 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.