CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Price Target Raised to $74.00

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) had its price objective boosted by Piper Sandler from $72.00 to $74.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the pharmacy operator’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on CVS. Leerink Partnrs upgraded CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays boosted their target price on CVS Health from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on CVS Health from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Argus set a $77.00 target price on CVS Health in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on CVS Health from $60.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.39.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CVS opened at $67.22 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $84.75 billion, a PE ratio of 18.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. CVS Health has a fifty-two week low of $43.56 and a fifty-two week high of $80.75. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $60.60 and a 200-day moving average of $57.35.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.30. CVS Health had a return on equity of 9.11% and a net margin of 1.24%. Equities research analysts anticipate that CVS Health will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 22nd. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 72.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CVS Health

In other news, Director Michael F. Mahoney bought 30,000 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $66.70 per share, for a total transaction of $2,001,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 39,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,625,045.20. The trade was a 320.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the company’s 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. This trade represents a 47.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of CVS Health

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dodge & Cox lifted its position in CVS Health by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 70,105,899 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,147,054,000 after acquiring an additional 7,075,209 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted 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 worth $2,739,927,000 after buying an additional 12,819,148 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in CVS Health by 3.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,527,909 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,554,475,000 after buying an additional 1,989,066 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in CVS Health by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,051,540 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,211,582,000 after buying an additional 689,867 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its position in CVS Health by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 26,666,401 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,196,989,000 after buying an additional 1,212,126 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.