CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Leerink Partnrs

Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for CVS Health’s FY2027 earnings at $8.23 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $9.36 EPS.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on CVS. Wolfe Research boosted their price target on CVS Health from 67.00 to 70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of CVS Health from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Leerink Partners upgraded CVS Health from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen boosted 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.28.

CVS Health Stock Up 4.9 %

CVS opened at $66.35 on Wednesday. CVS Health has a twelve month low of $43.56 and a twelve month high of $80.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $50.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.84, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.61.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.30. CVS Health had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 1.36%. Equities research analysts forecast that CVS Health will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 23rd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.51%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in CVS Health in the fourth quarter worth $839,574,000. Capital World Investors increased its stake in CVS Health by 26.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,039,777 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,739,927,000 after buying an additional 12,819,148 shares during the period. Davis Selected Advisers lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 2,998.1% during the 4th quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 11,385,950 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $511,115,000 after buying an additional 11,018,438 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox boosted its position in CVS Health by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 70,105,899 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,147,054,000 after buying an additional 7,075,209 shares during the period. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in CVS Health by 49.3% in the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 19,610,579 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $880,319,000 after acquiring an additional 6,475,271 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

About CVS Health

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.