CVS Health Stock in December 2025: Price, Forecast, Dividend and Whether the Rally Still Has Room to Run

Data and news current as of December 1, 2025. This article is for informational purposes only and is not financial advice.

CVS Health Stock Today: A Big 2025 Comeback, Slightly Off the Highs

CVS Health Corporation (NYSE: CVS) has staged one of 2025’s quiet comeback stories.

On December 1, 2025, CVS shares closed at $79.10, down about 1.6% on the day and snapping a three‑day winning streak, while the S&P 500 also slipped in a broadly weak session. The stock now sits roughly 7% below its 52‑week high of $85.15, set on October 29. ^[1]

Over a longer horizon, the turnaround looks more dramatic:

Year-to-date performance: CVS is up about 78.9% in 2025, according to performance data tracked by Chronicle Journal’s markets portal. ^[2]
52-week range: roughly $43.56 to $85.15 – today’s price is about 82% above the 52‑week low near $44. ^[3]
Volatility: CVS carries a 5‑year beta around 0.48–0.50, meaning it has historically moved about half as much as the broader market. ^[4]

In other words, investors who bought near the lows have already enjoyed a huge run, but CVS is still being talked about as a value and income play rather than a high‑flying growth stock.

Earnings Snapshot: Strong Operations, Messy GAAP Numbers

CVS’s fundamentals in late 2025 are shaped heavily by its third‑quarter 2025 results and a large non‑cash charge.

In Q3 2025, CVS reported: ^[5]

Revenue of about $102.9 billion, up 7.8% year-over-year, beating Wall Street estimates.
Adjusted EPS of $1.60, well ahead of consensus around $1.36.
A GAAP loss per share of roughly –$3.13, driven largely by a $5.7 billion non‑cash goodwill impairment in its Health Care Delivery / clinic business (not an ongoing cash expense).
Continued strong performance in pharmacy and consumer operations and improved medical cost trends in its Aetna health‑insurance unit.

Because that impairment crushed trailing 12‑month earnings, CVS’s headline trailing P/E ratio has exploded above 200, making the stock look optically expensive on a simple screen. Multiple data providers now peg CVS’s TTM P/E around 200–210, versus a much more normal forward P/E around 11–12 based on expected earnings. ^[6]

That gap between trailing and forward P/E is the accounting quirk every CVS investor has to understand: the stock isn’t trading like a 200x earnings tech name, it’s trading like a low‑teens P/E value play whose historical earnings were temporarily hammered by a one‑time write‑down.

Guidance and Long-Term Outlook: 2025 Reset, 2026 Acceleration?

Management has been steadily nudging expectations higher through 2025.

Earlier this year, after a tough 2024, CVS initially guided 2025 adjusted EPS to roughly $5.75–$6.00.
Following improved medical costs and better execution, that range was raised to $6.00–$6.20 after first‑quarter results. ^[7]
After Q3 2025, CVS again tightened and raised guidance to $6.55–$6.65 in adjusted EPS and about $397 billion in full‑year revenue. ^[8]

At its November update, the company also signaled that 2026 should feature double‑digit earnings growth off this higher 2025 base, as cost initiatives, clinic restructuring and insurance repricing roll through the P&L. ^[9]

For investors, this creates a relatively clear medium‑term story:

2025: “Reset” year, with one‑time impairment but strengthening cash earnings.
2026 and beyond: Management is promising faster EPS growth, helped by better medical‑loss ratios, more disciplined capital spending in primary care, and incremental contributions from its pharmacy benefit management (PBM) and specialty‑pharmacy businesses. ^[10]

Whether that growth materializes is the crux of the CVS bull‑vs‑bear debate.

Strategy Shifts: Clinics, GLP‑1 Weight‑Loss Drugs and Cost Discipline

Several 2025 strategic moves are shaping how analysts think about CVS’s future earnings power.

1. Clinic and Health Care Delivery Impairment

The big goodwill impairment in Q3 was tied to businesses like Oak Street Health and other clinic‑focused assets that CVS bought at rich prices in earlier years. Management is now slowing the pace of new clinic openings and tightening capital allocation around its Health Care Delivery segment. ^[11]

The takeaway:

CVS still believes in an integrated model (retail pharmacy + PBM + insurance + clinics),
But it is acknowledging that growth expectations for stand‑alone primary care clinics were too aggressive and that capital must be redeployed more carefully.

Some investors see this as a healthy, overdue reset. Others worry it confirms that CVS overpaid and that more write‑downs could still be ahead.

2. PBM Power and GLP‑1 Coverage: Dropping Zepbound, Prioritizing Wegovy

In the high‑stakes obesity drug race, CVS’s PBM arm made headlines by announcing it would drop Eli Lilly’s Zepbound (tirzepatide) from its main formularies and prioritize coverage of Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy starting mid‑2025, as part of a strategy to rein in weight‑loss drug spending. ^[12]

Key implications:

The move underlines how much leverage CVS’s PBM has over drug manufacturers – and how central it will be to controlling GLP‑1 costs for employers and health plans.
It also exposes CVS to criticism from patients and prescribers who worry about therapy disruptions and formulary churn. ^[13]

Regulators are already scrutinizing PBMs; decisions like these could increase that attention even as they help protect margins.

3. Leadership Consolidation and Activist Pressure

CVS is also reshaping how it’s led at the top:

David Joyner, who became President and CEO in October 2024, will also become Chair of the Board on January 1, 2026, succeeding Executive Chair Roger Farah (who will remain on the board). ^[14]
The board highlighted Joyner’s nearly 40 years of health‑care experience and “renewed focus and energy” as reasons to combine the CEO and Chair roles – a move often read as a vote of confidence in a turnaround strategy. ^[15]

At the same time, activist hedge fund Glenview Capital has played a visible role in pushing CVS to sharpen its focus, even as it trimmed its stake after strong early‑2025 results and an initial guidance raise. Glenview publicly reiterated confidence in CVS’s “near, medium and long‑term outlook” despite reducing its holding. ^[16]

That combination – a more empowered CEO plus still‑watchful activists – tends to support ongoing cost discipline and shareholder focus.

4. ESG and Community Investments

Not all 2025 headlines have been about numbers. On December 1, CVS announced it has invested more than $17 million to help transform the historic Prichard building in Huntington, West Virginia into affordable senior housing, bringing its total affordable housing investments in the state to over $21 million and more than 800 units. ^[17]

While this won’t move the stock on its own, it underscores CVS’s broader corporate narrative about addressing social determinants of health – something institutional investors increasingly care about.

Dividend and Valuation: A 3.3% Yield in an Overvalued Market

For income and value investors, the dividend + valuation combo is a central part of the CVS story.

Dividend profile

Quarterly dividend: $0.665 per share.
Annualized: $2.66 per share, for a yield of roughly 3.3–3.4% at current prices. ^[18]
CVS has now delivered several consecutive annual dividend increases, with a 3‑year dividend CAGR around 7% and high marks for dividend safety from third‑party research shops. ^[19]

Because GAAP earnings are temporarily depressed by impairment, payout ratios based on EPS (often >700%) look scary. But on a cash‑flow basis, payout ratios are far more reasonable and consistent with a sustainable, moderate‑growth dividend. ^[20]

Valuation versus the market

Based on multiple sources:

CVS trades around 11–12x forward earnings, depending on the exact EPS estimate. ^[21]
The S&P 500 forward P/E is currently just over 23x, roughly double CVS’s valuation. ^[22]

That’s why several valuation‑focused analysts and platforms describe CVS as “undervalued and ripe for growth”, offering a blend of income (3%+ yield) and potential multiple expansion if its earnings guidance proves credible. ^[23]

The catch: low multiples are not always a “free lunch” – sometimes they reflect real structural risks, which brings us to Wall Street’s forecasts.

Wall Street Forecasts: Moderate Upside, Strong but Not Unanimous Support

Despite the volatile 2024 backdrop, most analysts remain constructive on CVS heading into 2026 – but with a clear split between cautious and very bullish camps.

Across several aggregators:

MarketBeat:
- Average 12‑month price target around $89–90, implying ~13% upside from the current price.
- Rating: “Moderate Buy”, with roughly two “Strong Buy,” twenty‑one “Buy,” and four “Hold” ratings. ^[24]
StockAnalysis:
- 18 analysts, consensus “Strong Buy”, with an average price target near $87 (around 10% upside), high targets above $100 and lows in the low‑$70s. ^[25]
Public.com and other brokers echo a similar mid‑$80s to low‑$90s target range. ^[26]
Zacks recently published a research report with a somewhat more conservative $83 price target, implying mid‑single‑digit upside and valuing CVS at about 11.7x forward earnings. ^[27]

In addition, a Benzinga feature on “high‑dividend healthcare stocks” highlighted CVS’s combination of yield and value and pointed to recent target hikes from big banks:

Truist reportedly nudged its target from the low‑$90s into the mid‑$90s,
Morgan Stanley raised its target into the high‑$80s, both while maintaining bullish ratings. ^[28]

Taken together, Wall Street’s base case is moderate upside from here, not another 80% run – with most of the return expected to come from mid‑single‑digit earnings growth + dividend, not explosive multiple expansion.

Contrasting Views: “Once‑in‑a‑Generation Value” vs. “Large‑Cap to Sell”

Opinions on CVS are unusually polarized for a defensive healthcare name.

The bull case: Once‑in‑a‑generation opportunity?

A widely circulated Fortune piece on value opportunities outside of AI highlighted CVS among a small group of non‑tech stocks that economist Ed Yardeni sees as offering a “once‑in‑a‑generation opportunity” because they combine durable cash flows, reasonable growth and discounted valuations relative to an expensive market. ^[29]

Layer on the facts:

Forward P/E around 11–12 vs S&P 500 forward P/E over 23,
A well‑covered 3%+ dividend with room for growth,
A much‑less‑volatile profile than tech high‑flyers,
And a business deeply embedded in U.S. healthcare infrastructure,

and it’s easy to see why many value and income investors see CVS as a high‑quality compounder temporarily trading at a discount.

The bear case: Weak productivity and aging profit engines

On the other side, a December 1 article from StockStory explicitly lists CVS as the one large‑cap stock to sell in a trio of big names. ^[30]

Their concerns:

CVS’s revenue has grown only about 6.4% annually over the last two years, lagging faster‑growing healthcare peers.
Earnings per share actually fell by about 2.9% annually over the last five years even as revenue rose, suggesting poor incremental profitability.
Returns on capital are low and deteriorating, implying management has struggled to deploy capital effectively, and that some profit engines are aging.
Even at roughly 11.6x forward earnings, they argue the stock may be a value trap if CVS can’t sustainably improve margins and returns. ^[31]

Add to that mounting PBM scrutiny, Medicare Advantage policy uncertainty, and evidence that some major institutions (like American Century) have trimmed CVS positions after the rally – American Century cut its stake by about 35.8% in Q2, even though institutional ownership overall remains high at around 80% – and the bear case is far from frivolous. ^[32]

Key Near-Term Catalysts for CVS Stock

Looking ahead from December 1, 2025, several catalysts could move CVS shares:

Investor Day and Updated Outlook
CVS has flagged that it will be discussing 2025–2026 strategy and financial targets, including capital allocation and clinic strategy, in upcoming investor presentations. The market will be watching for:
- More specificity on double‑digit 2026 EPS growth claims,
- Updated targets for cash flow, buybacks and dividends,
- Concrete evidence that the Health Care Delivery reset will boost returns rather than require more charges. ^[33]
Regulatory and Political Risk to PBMs and Medicare Advantage
Ongoing debates in Washington about PBM transparency, drug pricing and Medicare Advantage reimbursements are a wild card for CVS’s PBM and Aetna businesses. Policy shifts could either validate CVS’s cautious pricing or compress margins further, depending on the outcome. ^[34]
Next Dividend Declaration and Cash Return Policy
CVS’s next quarterly dividend is expected in early 2026, and investors will watch for:
- Another modest dividend increase, and
- Signs of share repurchases resuming or accelerating now that leverage from prior acquisitions is better under control. ^[35]
Execution on Cost Controls and Medical‑Cost Ratios
Zacks and others have stressed that further improvement in medical‑benefit ratios (MBR) and administrative efficiency is critical to justifying forward P/E assumptions and price targets in the $80s–$90s. ^[36]

Is CVS Stock a Buy, Hold or Sell Right Now?

Only you can decide what fits your goals and risk tolerance, but the current snapshot looks roughly like this:

CVS may appeal to investors who:

Want defensive healthcare exposure with a 3%+ dividend yield. ^[37]
Believe management can deliver on mid‑ to high‑single‑digit EPS growth and double‑digit EPS expansion in 2026, making today’s 11–12x forward P/E too cheap. ^[38]
Prefer lower‑volatility, income‑oriented names over frothy AI and tech trades, and see current market valuations as stretched relative to CVS. ^[39]

CVS may be less attractive to investors who:

Are looking for rapid top‑line growth – CVS is a mature large‑cap growing revenue in the mid‑single digits at best. ^[40]
Worry that regulatory pressure on PBMs and Medicare Advantage could structurally cap margins. ^[41]
View the clinic impairment and years of subpar returns on capital as signals that CVS will continue to destroy value with large deals, rather than unlock it. ^[42]

Given the big 2025 rally, many professional investors now frame CVS less as a deep‑value bargain and more as a reasonably priced, income‑oriented core holding whose future returns will depend heavily on execution rather than re‑rating alone. ^[43]

As always, it’s wise to:

Stress‑test your own thesis against both the bullish and bearish arguments,
Consider how much regulatory and reimbursement risk you’re willing to accept,
And make sure CVS fits within a diversified portfolio rather than standing alone.

Quick FAQ on CVS Health Stock (December 2025)

1. What is CVS Health’s stock price right now?
As of the close on December 1, 2025, CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) traded at $79.10 per share. ^[44]

2. What is the current dividend yield for CVS stock?
CVS pays a quarterly dividend of $0.665 per share, or $2.66 annually, which equates to a yield of roughly 3.3–3.4% at recent prices. ^[45]

3. Why is CVS’s P/E ratio over 200 if it’s supposed to be a value stock?
In Q3 2025, CVS took a $5.7 billion non‑cash goodwill impairment related to its health‑care delivery assets, which crushed GAAP earnings and pushed its trailing P/E above 200. On forward earnings, most data providers show a much more typical ~11–12x forward P/E, which is what value investors focus on. ^[46]

4. What is the Wall Street consensus price target for CVS?
Across major aggregators, the average 12‑month price target for CVS clusters in the high‑$80s to low‑$90s, implying roughly 10–15% upside from current levels, plus the dividend. Ratings are mostly Buy or Strong Buy, with a smaller group of Hold and a few more cautious targets around the low‑$80s. ^[47]

5. What are the biggest risks to CVS stock?

Major risk factors often cited by analysts include: ^[48]

Further regulatory or pricing pressure on PBMs and Medicare Advantage,
Execution risk around clinic restructuring and integration of past acquisitions,
The possibility of additional write‑downs if acquired assets underperform,
High sensitivity to U.S. healthcare policy changes and political cycles.

6. Is this article investment advice?
No. This article summarizes recent news and consensus analysis about CVS Health stock, but it does not take into account your individual financial situation, time horizon, or risk tolerance. Always do your own research and consider consulting a licensed financial adviser before making investment decisions.