CVS rises after Barclays upgrades to 'overweight', raises PT
** Shares of healthcare conglomerate CVS Health CVS.N rise 1.6% to $67.01 premarket
** Brokerage Barclays upgrades CVS to "overweight" from "equal weight" and raises PT to $82 from $63
** Barclays sees a compelling margin recovery opportunity driven by higher conviction in the upper end of a 1%-2% improvement target for margins in its Medicare business and $2 bln in cost-savings initiatives
** Rival insurer Humana's recent downgrade in its plans' quality ratings should benefit CVS from both a competitive standpoint on benefits and membership growth, and a marketability standpoint to investors - Barclays
** "CVS's diversified operating model (is) allowing the company to take share from less financially durable peers within the retail pharmacy space" - brokerage
** Barclays estimates CVS has gained 0.05%-0.10% of market share per quarter since Q1 2020
** Sees potential for this trend to accelerate as it believes rival pharmacy operator Walgreens WBA.O will close an "appreciable amount" of its over 1,000 stores slated for closure in the coming year
** Up to last close, stock down 16.5% YTD
Reporting by Puyaan Singh
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