CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Trading Down 1.2% Following Analyst Downgrade

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)’s stock price dropped 1.2% during mid-day trading on Monday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $82.00 to $79.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. CVS Health traded as low as $63.09 and last traded at $63.28. Approximately 1,356,763 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 11,174,638 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.04.

Several other research analysts have also commented on CVS. UBS Group raised their price target on CVS Health from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on CVS Health from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of CVS Health from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued 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 an average target price of $74.75.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CVS Health

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in CVS Health during the fourth quarter worth approximately $839,574,000. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings 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 valued at $2,739,927,000 after purchasing an additional 12,819,148 shares in the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers increased its position in CVS Health by 2,998.1% during the fourth quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 11,385,950 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $511,115,000 after buying an additional 11,018,438 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox boosted its stake in shares of 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. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in CVS Health by 49.3% in the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 19,610,579 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $880,319,000 after acquiring an additional 6,475,271 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $80.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.77.

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

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd were paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 22nd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.48%.

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.