CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $52.33, but opened at $53.52. CVS Health shares last traded at $53.21, with a volume of 1,563,112 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CVS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of CVS Health from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $66.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.71.

CVS Health Stock Up 3.2 %

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $51.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $67.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.71, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.59.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $95.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.72 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 1.36%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.21 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 5.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 23rd. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 67.51%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CVS Health

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of CVS Health by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 410,001 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $25,781,000 after purchasing an additional 36,132 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 28.7% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 46,938 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,951,000 after acquiring an additional 10,465 shares in the last quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 43.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 122,682 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $7,125,000 after acquiring an additional 37,395 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,434,476 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $90,200,000 after acquiring an additional 66,244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in CVS Health by 8.4% during the third quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 134,523 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $8,459,000 after buying an additional 10,453 shares during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is 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.