CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS – Get Rating) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, September 21st, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, October 21st will be paid a dividend of 0.55 per share by the pharmacy operator on Tuesday, November 1st. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%.
CVS Health has raised its dividend payment by an average of 19.4% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 1 years. CVS Health has a payout ratio of 24.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect CVS Health to earn $9.21 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 23.9%.
CVS Health Stock Performance
CVS Health stock traded down $1.57 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $99.77. The company had a trading volume of 3,672,564 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,632,263. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. CVS Health has a 12-month low of $81.78 and a 12-month high of $111.25. The company’s fifty day moving average is $99.88 and its 200-day moving average is $99.31. The company has a market capitalization of $130.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.73.
CVS Health (NYSE:CVS – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 3rd. The pharmacy operator reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.24. CVS Health had a return on equity of 15.19% and a net margin of 2.65%. The business had revenue of $80.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $76.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.42 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that CVS Health will post 8.53 EPS for the current year.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
CVS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho upped their price objective on CVS Health from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 15th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on CVS Health from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on CVS Health from $113.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered CVS Health from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $122.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 26th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group increased their target price on CVS Health from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.59.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, EVP Alan Lotvin sold 22,541 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.00, for a total transaction of $2,344,264.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 109,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,355,032. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Alan Lotvin sold 22,541 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.00, for a total transaction of $2,344,264.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,355,032. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas M. Moriarty sold 138,654 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $13,172,130.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 626,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,495,935. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On CVS Health
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EHP Funds Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CVS Health in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,002,000. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 7,475 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $757,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. qPULA Trading Management LP purchased a new position in shares of CVS Health in the 1st quarter valued at about $714,000. Continuum Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of CVS Health in the 1st quarter valued at about $687,000. Finally, Clark Capital Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in CVS Health during the first quarter worth approximately $473,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.64% of the company’s stock.
CVS Health Company Profile
CVS Health Corporation provides health services in the United States. The company’s Health Care Benefits segment offers traditional, voluntary, and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services. It serves employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, health care providers, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups, and expatriates.