CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.67

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, March 20th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of 0.665 per share by the pharmacy operator on Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.89%.

CVS Health has raised its dividend by an average of 10.0% per year over the last three years. CVS Health has a payout ratio of 38.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect CVS Health to earn $6.77 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.66 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 39.3%.

CVS Health Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of CVS stock traded up $0.55 on Thursday, hitting $68.46. 2,210,006 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,031,100. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a 50-day moving average of $59.76 and a 200 day moving average of $57.20. CVS Health has a fifty-two week low of $43.56 and a fifty-two week high of $80.75.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.30. CVS Health had a return on equity of 9.11% and a net margin of 1.24%. Equities analysts anticipate that CVS Health will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CVS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their price objective on CVS Health from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Argus set a $77.00 price objective on CVS Health in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. 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 research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.83.

Insider Transactions at CVS Health

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