CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Shares Gap Up After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $55.00, but opened at $60.61. CVS Health shares last traded at $63.09, with a volume of 10,423,016 shares traded.

The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.30. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 10.72%.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.18%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CVS has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on CVS Health from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Edward Jones upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of CVS Health from $75.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of CVS Health from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on CVS Health from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.78.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CVS. State Street Corp boosted its stake in CVS Health by 3.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,527,909 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,554,475,000 after buying an additional 1,989,066 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,361,673 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,651,997,000 after acquiring an additional 461,569 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 49.3% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 19,610,579 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $880,319,000 after purchasing an additional 6,475,271 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in CVS Health during the 4th quarter valued at about $839,574,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in CVS Health by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,918,949 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $579,932,000 after acquiring an additional 710,281 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Trading Up 15.7 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $80.08 billion, a PE ratio of 16.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $50.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.92. 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 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.