CVS Health Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:CVS)

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 53,221 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 62% compared to the typical daily volume of 32,948 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CVS. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of CVS Health from $83.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. SVB Leerink assumed coverage on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $88.00 price target for the company. Leerink Partnrs restated an “outperform” rating on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $78.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CVS Health has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.44.

Insider Activity at CVS Health

In related news, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 39,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,059,916.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Atticus Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 149.0% in the fourth quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 366 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas lifted its stake in CVS Health by 573.2% in the fourth quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 377 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its stake in CVS Health by 111.5% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 461 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in CVS Health in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in CVS Health in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of CVS stock traded up $0.28 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $67.73. The company had a trading volume of 13,476,347 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,639,692. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $74.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.52. CVS Health has a 52 week low of $64.41 and a 52 week high of $83.25.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $93.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.58 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 15.25%. CVS Health’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.99 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that CVS Health will post 8.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. CVS Health’s payout ratio is currently 41.18%.

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.