Cantor Fitzgerald Downgrades CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) to Neutral

Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $58.00 price target on the pharmacy operator’s stock, down from their previous price target of $87.00.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on CVS. SVB Leerink restated a market perform rating and set a $60.00 price objective (down from $87.00) on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut shares of CVS Health from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of 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. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of CVS Health from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an equal weight rating and a $78.00 target price on the stock. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $80.35.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of CVS stock opened at $55.90 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. CVS Health has a 12-month low of $53.70 and a 12-month high of $83.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $73.19 and a 200-day moving average of $73.37.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.38). The company had revenue of $88.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.33 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 13.53% and a net margin of 2.03%. CVS Health’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.20 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that CVS Health will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 19th. CVS Health’s payout ratio is currently 46.75%.

Insider Activity

In other CVS Health news, Director Edward J. Ludwig purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $53.88 per share, with a total value of $53,880.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 21,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,165,424.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Edward J. Ludwig bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $53.88 per share, with a total value of $53,880.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 21,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,165,424.40. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total transaction of $2,267,947.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,059,916.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 22.8% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 5,993 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $418,000 after purchasing an additional 1,112 shares during the period. Accurate Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 4.9% in the third quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,144 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 4.3% in the third quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 5,081 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Tectonic Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 12.5% in the third quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 8,433 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $589,000 after purchasing an additional 935 shares during the period. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 6.2% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 65,885 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $4,600,000 after purchasing an additional 3,874 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.