Eagle Asset Management Inc. Purchases New Stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 44,446 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock, valued at approximately $2,795,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CVS. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 410,001 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $25,781,000 after purchasing an additional 36,132 shares during the last quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. boosted its position in CVS Health by 43.8% during the third quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 122,682 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $7,125,000 after acquiring an additional 37,395 shares during the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C acquired a new position in CVS Health in the 2nd quarter valued at $57,584,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 5.7% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 448,323 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $28,191,000 after purchasing an additional 24,285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional grew its position in shares of CVS Health by 698.0% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 74,609 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $4,691,000 after purchasing an additional 65,259 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CVS traded down $1.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $59.02. 7,884,767 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,362,798. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $59.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.69. The company has a market cap of $74.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.98, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.59. CVS Health Co. has a 52 week low of $52.71 and a 52 week high of $83.25.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.01. CVS Health had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 1.36%. The firm had revenue of $95.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.21 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 5.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.51%. CVS Health's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CVS. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $72.00 to $64.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com lowered CVS Health from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays decreased their target price on CVS Health from $75.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of CVS Health from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the company from $60.00 to $66.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $70.33.

About CVS Health

CVS Health Corporation provides health solutions in the United States. It operates through Health Care Benefits, Health Services, and Pharmacy & Consumer Wellness segments. The Health Care Benefits segment offers traditional, voluntary, and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services.