CVS Caremark boosts dividend 22 percent, sets $6 billion buyback

CVS CAREMARK CORP. has approved a $6 billion share buyback. The share repurchase is effective immediately and will be completed over a period of several years. / BLOOMBERG FILE PHOTO/DAVID PAUL MORRIS
CVS CAREMARK CORP. has approved a $6 billion share buyback. The share repurchase is effective immediately and will be completed over a period of several years. / BLOOMBERG FILE PHOTO/DAVID PAUL MORRIS

(Updated, 1:51 p.m.)

NEW YORK – CVS Caremark Corp., the largest provider of prescription drugs in the U.S., boosted its dividend by 22 percent and approved a share buyback for as much as $6 billion.

The quarterly dividend of 28 cents a share is payable Feb. 3 to holders of record on Jan. 23, the Woonsocket-based company said in a statement. The share repurchase is effective immediately and will be completed over a period of several years.

Adjusted profit will be $4.36 to $4.50 in 2014, the company said. Analysts had projected $4.47, on average.

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CVS rose 2.5 percent to $68.50 at 9:59 a.m. in New York. The shares added 38 percent this year through yesterday, compared with a 25 percent gain for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

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