CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $65.09, but opened at $62.88. CVS Health shares last traded at $63.96, with a volume of 2,799,405 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on CVS. StockNews.com raised shares of CVS Health from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of CVS Health from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of CVS Health from $72.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 25th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of CVS Health from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CVS Health has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.00.

CVS Health Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $80.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.18.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.30. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.24% and a return on equity of 9.11%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 5.9 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 23rd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.68%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Michael F. Mahoney acquired 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $66.70 per share, with a total value of $2,001,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares in the company, valued at $2,625,045.20. The trade was a 320.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dodge & Cox boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 70,105,899 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,147,054,000 after buying an additional 7,075,209 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of CVS Health by 26.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,039,777 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,739,927,000 after purchasing an additional 12,819,148 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of CVS Health by 3.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,527,909 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,554,475,000 after purchasing an additional 1,989,066 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of CVS Health by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,051,540 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,211,582,000 after purchasing an additional 689,867 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of CVS Health by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 26,666,401 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,196,989,000 after purchasing an additional 1,212,126 shares in 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.