Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.

Market Information

CVS Health Corporation’s common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “CVS.”

Dividends

During 2023, 2022 and 2021, the quarterly cash dividend was $0.605, $0.55 and $0.50 per share, respectively. In December 2023, the Board authorized an increase of approximately 10% in the quarterly cash dividend to $0.665 per share effective in 2024. CVS Health Corporation has paid cash dividends every quarter since becoming a public company. Future dividends will depend on the Company’s earnings, capital requirements, financial condition and other factors considered relevant by the Board.

See Note 14 ‘‘Shareholders’ Equity’’ included in Item 8 of this 10-K for information regarding CVS Health Corporation’s dividends.

Holders of Common Stock

As of January 31, 2024, there were 23,098 registered holders of the registrant’s common stock according to the records maintained by the registrant’s transfer agent.

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

The following share repurchase programs have been authorized by the Board:

Each of the share Repurchase Programs was effective immediately and permit the Company to effect repurchases from time to time through a combination of open market repurchases, privately negotiated transactions, accelerated share repurchase (“ASR”) transactions, and/or other derivative transactions. Both the 2022 and 2021 Repurchase Programs can be modified or terminated by the Board at any time.

During the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, the Company repurchased an aggregate of 22.8 million shares of common stock for approximately $2.0 billion and an aggregate of 34.1 million shares of common stock for approximately $3.5 billion, respectively, both pursuant to the 2021 Repurchase Program. This activity includes the share repurchases under the ASR transactions described below. During the year ended December 31, 2021, the Company did not repurchase any shares of common stock.

Pursuant to the authorization under the 2021 Repurchase Program, the Company entered into a $3.0 billion fixed dollar ASR with Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC (“Morgan Stanley”). Upon payment of the $3.0 billion purchase price on January 4, 2024, the Company received a number of shares of CVS Health Corporation’s common stock equal to 85% of the $3.0 billion notional amount of the ASR or approximately 31.4 million shares at a price of $81.19 per share, which were placed into treasury stock in January 2024. At the conclusion of the ASR, the Company may receive additional shares representing the remaining 15% of the $3.0 billion notional amount. The ultimate number of shares the Company may receive will depend on the daily volume-weighted average price of the Company’s stock over an averaging period, less a discount. It is also possible, depending on such weighted average price, that the Company will have an obligation to Morgan Stanley which, at the Company’s option, could be settled in additional cash or by issuing shares. Under the terms of the ASR, the maximum number of shares that could be delivered to the Company is 73.9 million.

Pursuant to the authorization under the 2021 Repurchase Program, the Company entered into a $2.0 billion fixed dollar ASR with Citibank, N.A. Upon payment of the $2.0 billion purchase price on January 4, 2023, the Company received a number of

shares of CVS Health Corporation’s common stock equal to 80% of the $2.0 billion notional amount of the ASR or approximately 17.4 million shares at a price of $92.19 per share, which were placed into treasury stock in January 2023. The ASR was accounted for as an initial treasury stock transaction for $1.6 billion and a forward contract for $0.4 billion. The forward contract was classified as an equity instrument and was recorded within capital surplus. In February 2023, the Company received approximately 5.4 million shares of CVS Health Corporation’s common stock, representing the remaining 20% of the $2.0 billion notional amount of the ASR, thereby concluding the ASR. These shares were placed into treasury and the forward contract was reclassified from capital surplus to treasury stock in February 2023.

Pursuant to the authorization under the 2021 Repurchase Program, the Company entered into a $1.5 billion fixed dollar ASR with Barclays Bank PLC. Upon payment of the $1.5 billion purchase price on January 4, 2022, the Company received a number of shares of CVS Health Corporation’s common stock equal to 80% of the $1.5 billion notional amount of the ASR or approximately 11.6 million shares at a price of $103.34 per share, which were placed into treasury stock in January 2022. The ASR was accounted for as an initial treasury stock transaction for $1.2 billion and a forward contract for $0.3 billion. The forward contract was classified as an equity instrument and was recorded within capital surplus. In February 2022, the Company received approximately 2.7 million shares of CVS Health Corporation’s common stock, representing the remaining 20% of the $1.5 billion notional amount of the ASR, thereby concluding the ASR. These shares were placed into treasury stock and the forward contract was reclassified from capital surplus to treasury stock in February 2022.

At the time they were received, the initial and final receipt of shares resulted in an immediate reduction of the outstanding shares used to calculate the weighted average common shares outstanding for basic and diluted earnings per share.

See Note 14 ‘‘Shareholders’ Equity’’ included in Item 8 of this 10-K for additional information regarding the Company’s share repurchases.

Stock Performance Graph

The following graph compares the cumulative total shareholder return on CVS Health Corporation’s common stock (assuming reinvestment of dividends) with the cumulative total return on the S&P 500 Index, the S&P 500 Food and Staples Retailing Industry Group Index and the S&P 500 Healthcare Sector Group Index from December 31, 2018 through December 31, 2023. The graph assumes a $100 investment in shares of CVS Health Corporation’s common stock on December 31, 2018.

(1)Includes CVS Health Corporation.

(2)Includes eight companies (COST, DG, DLTR, KR, SYY, TGT, WBA, WMT).

(3)Includes 64 companies.

The year-ended values of each investment shown in the preceding graph are based on share price appreciation plus dividends, with the dividends reinvested as of the last business day of the month during which such dividends were ex-dividend. The calculations exclude trading commissions and taxes. Total shareholder returns from each investment can be calculated from the year-end investment values shown beneath the graph.