The Goldman Sachs Group Lowers CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Price Target to $74.00

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) had its target price reduced by stock analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $85.00 to $74.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the pharmacy operator’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 32.38% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. SVB Leerink reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective (down from $87.00) on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of CVS Health from $86.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Leerink Partnrs reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Monday, February 26th. UBS Group cut shares of CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $85.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of CVS Health from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.35.

CVS Health Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of CVS Health stock traded up $0.75 during trading on Thursday, hitting $55.90. The stock had a trading volume of 23,946,075 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,498,538. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.26. CVS Health has a 1 year low of $53.70 and a 1 year high of $83.25. The company has a market capitalization of $70.18 billion, a PE ratio of 9.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.38). CVS Health had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.53%. The company had revenue of $88.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that CVS Health will post 7.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Edward J. Ludwig bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $53.88 per share, with a total value of $53,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,165,424.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other CVS Health news, Director Edward J. Ludwig purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $53.88 per share, with a total value of $53,880.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 21,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,165,424.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total transaction of $2,267,947.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,059,916.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CVS Health

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CVS. Mission Wealth Management LP increased its holdings in CVS Health by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 5,081 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 65,885 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $4,600,000 after purchasing an additional 3,874 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 82.5% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,614 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $462,000 after purchasing an additional 2,990 shares during the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 24.0% in the 3rd quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 8,307 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $580,000 after purchasing an additional 1,606 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 10,678,078 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $745,543,000 after purchasing an additional 266,650 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

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.