CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Price Target Raised to $74.00 at Piper Sandler

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) had its target price raised by Piper Sandler from $72.00 to $74.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the pharmacy operator’s stock.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on CVS. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on CVS Health from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on CVS Health from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised CVS Health from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Leerink Partners raised CVS Health from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.39.

CVS Health Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of CVS opened at $67.22 on Friday. CVS Health has a 52 week low of $43.56 and a 52 week high of $80.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.81.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.30. CVS Health had a return on equity of 9.11% and a net margin of 1.24%. On average, equities research analysts expect that CVS Health will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is 72.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Michael F. Mahoney acquired 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $66.70 per share, for a total transaction of $2,001,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 39,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,625,045.20. This trade represents a 320.65 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total value of $498,487.55. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $556,941.90. This trade represents a 47.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CVS. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of CVS Health during the fourth quarter worth $839,574,000. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 26.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,039,777 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,739,927,000 after acquiring an additional 12,819,148 shares in the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 2,998.1% in the fourth quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 11,385,950 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $511,115,000 after acquiring an additional 11,018,438 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 70,105,899 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,147,054,000 after purchasing an additional 7,075,209 shares during the period. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 49.3% during the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 19,610,579 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $880,319,000 after purchasing an additional 6,475,271 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

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.