CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Short Interest Update

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) saw a large growth in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 19,990,000 shares, a growth of 12.2% from the July 15th total of 17,820,000 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 11,100,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days.

CVS Health Stock Up 1.4 %

CVS stock opened at $58.35 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $59.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. CVS Health has a 12-month low of $52.77 and a 12-month high of $83.25. The company has a market cap of $73.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.25, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.52.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.10. CVS Health had a return on equity of 13.53% and a net margin of 2.03%. The business had revenue of $91.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $91.41 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.21 earnings per share. CVS Health’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that CVS Health will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 22nd were given a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.56%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 22nd. CVS Health’s payout ratio is currently 46.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. USA Financial Formulas increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 573.2% during the 4th quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 377 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. First Community Trust NA increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 116.2% during the 2nd quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 562 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Steph & Co. increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 192.0% during the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 438 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on CVS shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of CVS Health from $101.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of CVS Health from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of CVS Health from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded shares of CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $59.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CVS Health presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.24.

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.