CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Lowered to “Neutral” at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has $58.00 target price on the pharmacy operator’s stock, down from their prior target price of $87.00.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on CVS. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an equal weight rating and a $78.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of CVS Health from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. SVB Leerink reiterated a market perform rating and issued a $60.00 target price (down from $87.00) on shares of CVS Health in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of CVS Health from $83.00 to $76.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of CVS Health from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CVS Health currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $86.28.

CVS Health Stock Down 16.8 %

CVS stock opened at $56.32 on Wednesday. CVS Health has a 52 week low of $54.00 and a 52 week high of $83.25. The company has a market capitalization of $70.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $73.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.11. CVS Health had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The company had revenue of $93.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.99 EPS. CVS Health’s revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that CVS Health will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 19th. CVS Health’s payout ratio is presently 41.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,059,916.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. increased its position in CVS Health by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 2,859 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC increased its position in CVS Health by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 3,378 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC increased its position in CVS Health by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC now owns 3,612 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC increased its position in CVS Health by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC now owns 4,498 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC increased its position in CVS Health by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,639 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% 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.