Royal Bank of Canada Boosts CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Price Target to $81.00

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) had its price objective raised by stock analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $74.00 to $81.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the pharmacy operator’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective points to a potential upside of 22.14% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on CVS. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on CVS Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of CVS Health from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Edward Jones upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their price target on CVS Health from 67.00 to 70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.81.

CVS Health Stock Down 1.2 %

CVS stock opened at $66.32 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.85. CVS Health has a 1-year low of $43.56 and a 1-year high of $72.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.61 billion, a PE ratio of 18.12, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.63. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.24% and a return on equity of 9.11%. The company had revenue of $94.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that CVS Health will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at CVS Health

In other CVS Health news, Director Michael F. Mahoney bought 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $66.70 per share, with a total value of $2,001,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,625,045.20. This trade represents a 320.65 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total value of $498,487.55. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,394 shares in the company, valued at $556,941.90. The trade was a 47.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.22% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CVS Health

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CVS. Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of CVS Health by 0.8% during the first quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 20,705 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,403,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in shares of CVS Health by 32.6% during the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 707 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 1.0% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 17,114 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,159,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in CVS Health by 3.7% in the first quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,930 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN increased its position in shares of CVS Health by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 2,610 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $177,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

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.