Advisors Capital Management LLC Has $9.12 Million Holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Advisors Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) by 12.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 203,135 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after buying an additional 22,082 shares during the period. Advisors Capital Management LLC's holdings in CVS Health were worth $9,119,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,051,540 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $1,211,582,000 after purchasing an additional 689,867 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 49.3% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 19,610,579 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $880,319,000 after buying an additional 6,475,271 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of CVS Health in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $839,574,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in CVS Health by 30.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 18,038,089 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $809,730,000 after acquiring an additional 4,173,243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in CVS Health by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,918,949 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $579,932,000 after purchasing an additional 710,281 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael F. Mahoney bought 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $66.70 per share, for a total transaction of $2,001,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 39,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,625,045.20. This represents a 320.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total transaction of $498,487.55. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,394 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $556,941.90. This represents a 47.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on CVS Health from $51.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of CVS Health from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of CVS Health from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised CVS Health from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $71.83.

CVS Health Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE:CVS traded down $1.37 on Friday, reaching $67.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,054,208 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,811,363. CVS Health Co. has a 1-year low of $43.56 and a 1-year high of $71.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $84.71 billion, a PE ratio of 18.36, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.57. The business's 50-day moving average price is $66.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.79.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.30. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.24% and a return on equity of 9.11%. Equities research analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. CVS Health's payout ratio is 72.68%.

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.