CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Shares Gap Up to $68.96

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) shares gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $68.96, but opened at $71.66. CVS Health shares last traded at $69.86, with a volume of 1,656,876 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on CVS shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on CVS Health from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Barclays initiated coverage on CVS Health in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $78.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on CVS Health from $83.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 8th. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on CVS Health in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $88.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $87.00 price objective on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.44.

CVS Health Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $86.44 billion, a PE ratio of 10.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.73.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $93.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.58 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 2.33%. CVS Health’s revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.99 EPS. Research analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 8.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.88%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.18%.

Insider Transactions at CVS Health

In other news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total value of $2,267,947.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,059,916.75. The transaction 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 Investors Weigh In On CVS Health

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC increased its stake in CVS Health by 74.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 43,213 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,017,000 after buying an additional 18,385 shares in the last quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. increased its stake in CVS Health by 26.5% in the 3rd quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 991,601 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $69,261,000 after buying an additional 207,702 shares in the last quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC increased its stake in CVS Health by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC now owns 50,488 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,525,000 after buying an additional 774 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its stake in CVS Health by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 10,405 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $726,000 after buying an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its stake in CVS Health by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 19,355 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,351,000 after buying an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.