CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Sunday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on CVS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on CVS Health from $111.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Robert W. Baird set a $107.00 price objective on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of CVS Health from $108.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Argus upped their target price on shares of CVS Health from $104.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of CVS Health from $103.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Twenty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.24.

CVS Health Stock Performance

NYSE:CVS opened at $87.02 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $98.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. CVS Health has a twelve month low of $69.51 and a twelve month high of $110.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.02, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.59.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.71. CVS Health had a return on equity of 13.12% and a net margin of 1.18%.The company had revenue of $106.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $100.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.81 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. CVS Health has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.900-8.100 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CVS Health will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 23rd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is presently 70.37%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 26.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 74,927,064 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $7,751,205,000 after purchasing an additional 15,604,883 shares during the last quarter. Security National Bank of SO Dak bought a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Wellington Altus USA Inc. raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 13.3% during the second quarter. Wellington Altus USA Inc. now owns 1,025 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 5.8% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,287,441 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $133,186,000 after buying an additional 70,197 shares during the period. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC bought a new position in CVS Health in the second quarter valued at approximately $254,000. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CVS Health Company Profile

CVS Health Corporation is an American health care company headquartered in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. Founded in 1963 as Consumer Value Stores, the company has expanded from a chain of retail pharmacies into an integrated health care organization serving consumers, employers, health plans, government programs and health care providers.

CVS Health operates through several major businesses. Its Health Care Benefits segment, anchored by Aetna, provides health insurance products and related services for employers, individuals, Medicare and Medicaid members.