CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Rating Increased to Buy at Edward Jones

Edward Jones upgraded shares of CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports.

CVS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Mizuho lowered their target price on CVS Health from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of CVS Health from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of CVS Health from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $66.00 in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on CVS Health from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.12.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of CVS stock opened at $56.84 on Thursday. CVS Health has a one year low of $43.56 and a one year high of $80.75. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $51.28 and a 200-day moving average of $56.17. The stock has a market cap of $71.53 billion, a PE ratio of 14.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.01. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The business had revenue of $95.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CVS Health will post 5.18 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.68%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 67.51%.

Institutional Trading of CVS Health

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 9.7% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 410,001 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $25,781,000 after acquiring an additional 36,132 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 28.7% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 46,938 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,951,000 after purchasing an additional 10,465 shares during the last quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 43.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 122,682 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $7,125,000 after buying an additional 37,395 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,434,476 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $90,200,000 after purchasing an additional 66,244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 134,523 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $8,459,000 after acquiring an additional 10,453 shares during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.