Leerink Partnrs Boosts Earnings Estimates for CVS Health

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) – Equities research analysts at Leerink Partnrs boosted their FY2027 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for CVS Health in a research note issued on Wednesday, February 12th. Leerink Partnrs analyst M. Cherny now expects that the pharmacy operator will earn $8.23 per share for the year, up from their previous estimate of $8.16. Leerink Partnrs has a “Strong-Buy” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for CVS Health’s current full-year earnings is $5.14 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for CVS Health’s FY2028 earnings at $9.36 EPS.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Leerink Partners upgraded CVS Health from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on CVS Health from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Edward Jones raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CVS Health has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.28.

CVS Health Price Performance

CVS opened at $66.35 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $50.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.01. CVS Health has a twelve month low of $43.56 and a twelve month high of $80.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $83.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.84, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.61.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.30. CVS Health had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 1.36%.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 23rd. CVS Health’s payout ratio is currently 67.51%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CVS Health

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 477,251 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $21,424,000 after buying an additional 21,251 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 70,218 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,152,000 after purchasing an additional 20,107 shares during the period. Thematics Asset Management boosted its position in shares of CVS Health by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. Thematics Asset Management now owns 77,029 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,458,000 after purchasing an additional 19,653 shares in the last quarter. Trajan Wealth LLC grew its stake in CVS Health by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Trajan Wealth LLC now owns 65,886 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,958,000 after purchasing an additional 6,312 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in CVS Health by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 333,134 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $14,954,000 after purchasing an additional 5,964 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by 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.