CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Upgraded at Robert W. Baird

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) was upgraded by analysts at Robert W. Baird from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $82.00 price target on the pharmacy operator’s stock, up from their prior price target of $71.00. Robert W. Baird’s price target suggests a potential upside of 24.41% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on CVS. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $84.00 price objective (up previously from $76.00) on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on CVS Health from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on CVS Health from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on CVS Health from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on CVS Health from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.68.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of CVS opened at $65.91 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $83.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.41, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $64.79 and a 200-day moving average of $64.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. CVS Health has a 52 week low of $43.56 and a 52 week high of $72.51.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.35. CVS Health had a return on equity of 10.51% and a net margin of 1.17%. The business had revenue of $98.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that CVS Health will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at CVS Health

In other news, Director Guy P. Sansone acquired 1,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $63.70 per share, with a total value of $100,009.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 12,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $764,845.90. This represents a 15.04% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CVS Health

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 1.7% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 120,399,131 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $8,305,132,000 after purchasing an additional 2,063,737 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 4.8% during the first quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 73,459,122 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $4,976,856,000 after purchasing an additional 3,353,223 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 26.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,039,777 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,739,927,000 after purchasing an additional 12,819,148 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 2.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,635,233 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,966,083,000 after purchasing an additional 675,824 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 26,666,401 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,196,989,000 after purchasing an additional 1,212,126 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.