CVS Health Corp's stock has dropped significantly, hitting a 20-day low in pre-market trading, reflecting broader market trends in the health insurance sector.
The decline follows the Trump administration's proposal to maintain Medicare rates flat for the upcoming year, which has led to a significant drop in health insurance stocks, including CVS Health, which fell over 10%. This proposal has raised concerns about profitability among insurers, as the average payment increase for Medicare Advantage plans is only 0.09%, far below expectations, impacting their financial outlook.
This situation highlights the challenges CVS Health faces in the current market environment, particularly with the potential for reduced revenue from Medicare plans. Investors will be closely monitoring how the company navigates these challenges and any potential adjustments to its business strategy.
Wall Street analysts forecast CVS stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for CVS is 96.71 USD with a low forecast of 91.00 USD and a high forecast of 105.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
17 Analyst Rating
Wall Street analysts forecast CVS stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for CVS is 96.71 USD with a low forecast of 91.00 USD and a high forecast of 105.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
16 Buy
1 Hold
0 Sell
Strong Buy
Current: 74.030
Low
91.00
Averages
96.71
High
105.00
Current: 74.030
Low
91.00
Averages
96.71
High
105.00
Argus
Buy
downgrade
$91 -> $90
2026-01-28
New
Reason
Argus
Price Target
$91 -> $90
AI Analysis
2026-01-28
New
downgrade
Buy
Reason
Argus lowered the firm's price target on CVS Health to $90 from $91 but keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The stock declined by close to 15% after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed a flat 2027 Medicare Advantage reimbursement rate over 2026, but the firm sees this rate as likely to be revised upward before final implementation in April 2026, the analyst tells investors in a research note, adding that should the final rate increase come in lower than the prior year's 5.1% increase, CVS's diversification should be able to mitigate the impact compared to pure play health insurers.
BofA
Buy
maintain
$100 -> $95
2026-01-27
New
Reason
BofA
Price Target
$100 -> $95
2026-01-27
New
maintain
Buy
Reason
BofA lowered the firm's price target on CVS Health to $95 from $100 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced the proposed policies in the calendar year 2027 Advance Notice are projected to result in a net all-in rate of 2.54%, below the market's general expectation for an increase of 4%-6%. The announcement is a headwind to the Medicare Advantage margin expansion story, says the analyst, who estimates the gross unmitigated headwind to CVS would be more than $1B of Medicare Advantage revenue and margin if the final rates match these advanced rates and CVS makes no offsetting changes to benefits. However, the firm also notes that in the past 14 years, the final rate has come in better than the proposal 64% of the time.
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Bernstein
Market Perform
maintain
$87 -> $91
2026-01-06
Reason
Bernstein
Price Target
$87 -> $91
2026-01-06
maintain
Market Perform
Reason
Bernstein raised the firm's price target on CVS Health to $91 from $87 and keeps a Market Perform rating on the shares. The firm sees a sector turnaround in the government managed care organization sector beginning in 2026, but expects to see bumps in the recovery. Bernstein believes all MCO sectors present attractive entry points, with Medicare Advantage likely to see the nearest term earnings improvements and Medicaid representing the most attractive valuations.
JPMorgan
Overweight
maintain
$93 -> $101
2025-12-17
Reason
JPMorgan
Price Target
$93 -> $101
2025-12-17
maintain
Overweight
Reason
JPMorgan raised the firm's price target on CVS Health to $101 from $93 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The firm adjusted targets in the healthcare services group as part of its 2026 outlook. JPMorgan sees "some reasons for optimism that managed care estimates are approaching trough levels." Most managed care companies will reach a trough in earnings in 2026 or have already reached a trough in earnings in 2025 with the potential for upward revisions going forward, the analyst tells investors in a research note.
About CVS
CVS Health Corporation is a health solutions company. The Company's segments include Health Care Benefits, Health Services, Pharmacy & Consumer Wellness and Corporate/Other. Health Care Benefits segment offers a broad range of traditional, voluntary and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental and behavioral health plans, PDPs and Medicaid health care management services. Health Services segment provides a full range of pharmacy benefit management (PBM) solutions through its CVS Caremark operations and delivers health care services in its medical clinics, virtually, and in the home. Pharmacy & Consumer Wellness segment dispenses prescriptions in its CVS Pharmacy retail locations and through its infusion operations, provides ancillary pharmacy services including pharmacy patient care programs, diagnostic testing and vaccination administration, and sells a wide assortment of health and wellness products and general merchandise.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
