CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Short Interest Up 7.1% in December

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 19,030,000 shares, an increase of 7.1% from the November 30th total of 17,770,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 13,730,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

CVS Health Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE CVS opened at $44.89 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.39, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.54. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $53.30 and its 200 day moving average is $57.30. CVS Health has a 52 week low of $43.56 and a 52 week high of $83.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.80.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $95.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.72 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.21 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that CVS Health will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CVS Health

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CVS. State Street Corp increased its position in CVS Health by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,527,909 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,554,475,000 after purchasing an additional 1,989,066 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,361,673 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,651,997,000 after buying an additional 461,569 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 13,135,308 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $825,948,000 after acquiring an additional 198,920 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in CVS Health by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,208,668 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $767,681,000 after acquiring an additional 304,386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in CVS Health by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 11,897,034 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $748,085,000 after purchasing an additional 3,071,613 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CVS shares. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of CVS Health from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on CVS Health from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $72.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.12.

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.