CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Downgraded by Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has $58.00 price target on the pharmacy operator’s stock, down from their previous price target of $87.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Barclays began coverage on CVS Health in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $78.00 price objective for the company. SVB Leerink reaffirmed a market perform rating and issued a $60.00 price objective (down from $87.00) on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut CVS Health from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on CVS Health from $83.00 to $76.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on CVS Health from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $80.35.

CVS Health Price Performance

CVS stock opened at $55.90 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $73.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market cap of $70.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.56. CVS Health has a 52-week low of $53.70 and a 52-week high of $83.25.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.38). The business had revenue of $88.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.33 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 13.53% and a net margin of 2.03%. CVS Health’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.20 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that CVS Health will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd were issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.76%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 19th. CVS Health’s payout ratio is currently 46.75%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Edward J. Ludwig bought 1,000 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $53.88 per share, with a total value of $53,880.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 21,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,165,424.40. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total value of $2,267,947.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,059,916.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Edward J. Ludwig bought 1,000 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $53.88 per share, with a total value of $53,880.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 21,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,165,424.40. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CVS Health

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CVS. Norges Bank acquired a new position in CVS Health in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,092,040,000. Capital International Investors increased its position in CVS Health by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 33,691,698 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,660,298,000 after acquiring an additional 10,837,801 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in CVS Health by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 27,487,238 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,919,159,000 after acquiring an additional 6,194,441 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its position in CVS Health by 573.8% in the 1st quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 5,553,457 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $442,944,000 after acquiring an additional 4,729,207 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in CVS Health by 306.6% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,046,216 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $240,529,000 after acquiring an additional 2,297,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

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.