CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Shares Up 0.4% on Insider Buying Activity

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) shares were up 0.4% during trading on Friday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The company traded as high as $55.55 and last traded at $55.38. Approximately 6,250,598 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 46% from the average daily volume of 11,530,374 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.15.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays reduced their price target on CVS Health from $78.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group downgraded CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday. Mizuho dropped their price target on CVS Health from $86.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price objective (down previously from $90.00) on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Leerink Partnrs cut CVS Health from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CVS Health presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.35.

CVS Health Stock Up 1.4 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $72.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

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

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of CVS Health

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CVS. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 82.5% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,614 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $462,000 after acquiring an additional 2,990 shares during the period. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 63.4% in the third quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC now owns 153,831 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $10,740,000 after acquiring an additional 59,712 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 3.4% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 5,229 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $365,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Everhart Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in CVS Health in the third quarter valued at approximately $253,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in CVS Health by 7.2% in the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 6,662 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $465,000 after buying an additional 445 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.