12 Cheap Healthcare Stocks to Buy Heading into 2025

4. CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS)

P/E Ratio: 11.78 

CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS), standing fourth among the cheap healthcare stocks to buy heading into 2025, is a leading U.S. healthcare company with a multifaceted business model. It operates over 9,900 retail pharmacies offering medications, health products, and household items. The company provides pharmacy services, including prescription filling, specialty and mail-order services, and Pharmacy Benefit Management (PBM) through Caremark. CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS) also offers health services via MinuteClinic for walk-in care and HealthHUB locations for chronic disease management and telehealth. Additionally, through its acquisition of Aetna, the corporation provides medical, dental, and vision insurance, enabling comprehensive healthcare solutions.

Customers’ access to services has been improved by CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS) by utilizing its knowledge of health. Aetna, the company’s insurance division, unveiled SimplePay Health on October 16. The new service is an alternate health plan designed to accommodate self-insured consumers’ various needs. The strategy improves health outcomes while saving customers money.

On October 1, Aetna revealed its 2025 Medicare plans to meet its objectives. By guaranteeing that people have access to dependable and reasonably priced healthcare when needed, the plan aims to address the members’ most pressing health requirements. 59 million Medicare-eligible beneficiaries will have access to Aetna’s Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug (MAPD) plans when they extend to 44 states and Washington, DC, in 2025, for a total of 2,259 counties. In addition, Medicare Advantage (MA) by Aetna will offer a $0 monthly fee to 83% of Medicare-eligible enrollees in the United States.

In its Q2 2024 investor letter, Ariel Investments‘ Ariel Global Fund made the following statement about CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS):

“American healthcare company, CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS), also declined following disappointing earnings results and a subsequent reduction in full-year guidance. The miss was primarily due to increased utilization of Medicare Advantage plans and weakness in the health services segment driven by the loss of a large client and continued pharmacy client price improvements. In response, management reiterated its focus on improving margins and enhancing its positioning in Medicare Advantage. CVS believes the program can remain an attractive business for Aetna and CVS Health over time and will construct its bid for 2025 as a multi-year repricing opportunity across plan-level benefits. Meanwhile, CVS continues to return capital to shareholders through dividends and a recent accelerated share repurchase transaction.”