CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Receives $74.74 Average Target Price from Analysts

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $75.26.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CVS shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 price target on shares of CVS Health in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on CVS Health from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $62.00 price target on shares of CVS Health in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on CVS Health from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Barclays raised CVS Health from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $63.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th.

CVS Health Stock Down 3.6 %

Shares of NYSE CVS opened at $65.01 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $81.61 billion, a PE ratio of 11.43, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a fifty day moving average of $59.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.70. CVS Health has a 52-week low of $52.77 and a 52-week high of $83.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.86.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $91.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.41 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 12.72% and a net margin of 1.98%. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CVS Health will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st will be given a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.09%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.75%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CVS Health

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CVS. Comerica Bank grew its position in shares of CVS Health by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 420,164 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $33,176,000 after purchasing an additional 3,305 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP lifted its stake in CVS Health by 600.9% in the 4th quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 23,804 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,880,000 after acquiring an additional 20,408 shares in the last quarter. Boone Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in CVS Health in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,008,000. Bontempo Ohly Capital Mgmt LLC lifted its stake in CVS Health by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Bontempo Ohly Capital Mgmt LLC now owns 43,403 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,427,000 after acquiring an additional 2,055 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in CVS Health in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $509,000. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.