Leerink Partnrs Has Weak Forecast for CVS Health Q2 Earnings

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) – Analysts at Leerink Partnrs decreased their Q2 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of CVS Health in a research report issued on Thursday, May 1st. Leerink Partnrs analyst M. Cherny now forecasts that the pharmacy operator will post earnings of $1.45 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $1.54. Leerink Partnrs has a “Strong-Buy” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for CVS Health’s current full-year earnings is $5.89 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for CVS Health’s Q3 2025 earnings at $1.19 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.27 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $6.16 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $7.17 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $8.29 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $9.39 EPS.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.63. The company had revenue of $94.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.07 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.24% and a return on equity of 9.11%. CVS Health’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS.

Several other research firms have also commented on CVS. Wolfe Research raised their target price on CVS Health from 67.00 to 70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of CVS Health from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of CVS Health from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.81.

CVS Health Price Performance

NYSE:CVS opened at $66.32 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $66.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.85. The firm has a market cap of $83.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.12, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.60. CVS Health has a one year low of $43.56 and a one year high of $72.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.81.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd were issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is currently 63.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total value of $498,487.55. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $556,941.90. This represents a 47.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael F. Mahoney purchased 30,000 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $66.70 per share, for a total transaction of $2,001,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 39,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,625,045.20. This trade represents a 320.65 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of CVS Health

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dodge & Cox raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 70,105,899 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,147,054,000 after acquiring an additional 7,075,209 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in CVS Health by 26.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,039,777 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,739,927,000 after purchasing an additional 12,819,148 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of CVS Health by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,051,540 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,211,582,000 after buying an additional 689,867 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 26,666,401 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,196,989,000 after buying an additional 1,212,126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in CVS Health by 49.3% during the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 19,610,579 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $880,319,000 after acquiring an additional 6,475,271 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.