Aetna Inc. shares spiked 3.6% in extremely heavy afternoon trade Friday after a Reuters report that CVS Health Corp. could announce an acquisition of the health insurer for more than $70 billion by next month. Aetna stock had been trading down about 1% just before the report; shares have surged since an earlier Wall Street Journal report that a deal was being explored. CVS shares slumped 0.2% in afternoon trade. Aetna shares have surged 13% over the last three months, compared with a 4.6% rise in the S&P 500 .
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