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CVS Health has more room to run even as the broader health-care segment remains troubled, according to Leerink Partners. Leerink upgraded the pharmacy operator and benefits manager to outperform from market perform and raised its price target to $75 per share from $55. Leerink’s new forecast calls for about 19% upside from Wednesday’s close. CVS Health has pulled back more than 17% over the past year, but has been on fire in 2025 with a 40% year-to-date gain. On Wednesday, the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings , sending the stock up 15% on the day. CVS YTD mountain Shares have advanced about 40% so far in 2025. “With CVS’ seeing the important stabilization signs we’ve been waiting for on Aetna and HC Benefits, we see the reward as positively skewed on a risk-adjusted basis,” analyst Michael Cherny wrote. “We see this initial FY25 guidance … as likely driving more upside than downside to our multi-year estimates.” Cherny added that the stock is still trading at a discount relative to peers despite the early 2025 surge. CVS trades at about 10 times forward earnings, well below the S & P 500 health-care sector’s multiple of 18. The analyst also pointed to CVS’ managed care and retail pharmacy segments as catalysts for growth moving forward and could “create a series of natural offsets that help drive the enterprise growth algorithm.” “The totality of CVS has better long-term upside potential than what we feel is currently factored into the stock, with the biggest pieces of uncertainty starting to show positive signs of improvement/potential inflection,” Cherny said. Analysts are somewhat split on the stock. LSEG data shows that 17 of 29 who cover CVS rate it as a buy or strong buy. The remaining 12 have a hold rating on it.
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