CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Short Interest Update

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 19,990,000 shares, an increase of 12.2% from the July 15th total of 17,820,000 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 11,100,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days.

CVS Health Stock Up 1.4 %

CVS opened at $58.35 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $73.25 billion, a PE ratio of 10.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. CVS Health has a 52 week low of $52.77 and a 52 week high of $83.25. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.55.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $91.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.41 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 13.53% and a net margin of 2.03%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.21 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that CVS Health will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 22nd were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 22nd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.56%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 46.75%.

Institutional Trading of CVS Health

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Riverpoint Wealth Management Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the fourth quarter worth about $218,000. Canoe Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 95.1% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 1,762,629 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $139,177,000 after purchasing an additional 859,134 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 30.6% during the fourth quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 66,322 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $5,237,000 after purchasing an additional 15,548 shares during the period. Steph & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 192.0% during the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 438 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 17,856 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,410,000 after purchasing an additional 2,901 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on CVS shares. Leerink Partnrs cut shares of CVS Health from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. TD Cowen cut shares of CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Baird R W upgraded shares of CVS Health to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of CVS Health from $86.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CVS Health has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.24.

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.