Aquatic Capital Management LLC Increases Holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Aquatic Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) by 258.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 751,948 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after acquiring an additional 541,948 shares during the period. CVS Health makes up about 0.9% of Aquatic Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Aquatic Capital Management LLC owned about 0.06% of CVS Health worth $33,755,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dodge & Cox grew its position in CVS Health by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 70,105,899 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $3,147,054,000 after purchasing an additional 7,075,209 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in CVS Health by 26.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,039,777 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $2,739,927,000 after purchasing an additional 12,819,148 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in CVS Health by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,051,540 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $1,211,582,000 after acquiring an additional 689,867 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in CVS Health by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 26,666,401 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $1,196,989,000 after acquiring an additional 1,212,126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in CVS Health by 49.3% in the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 19,610,579 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $880,319,000 after acquiring an additional 6,475,271 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.66% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CVS Health news, Director Michael F. Mahoney acquired 30,000 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased 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 directly owns 39,356 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,625,045.20. This represents a 320.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total transaction of $498,487.55. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,394 shares in the company, valued at $556,941.90. The trade was a 47.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CVS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of CVS Health from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the company from $55.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of CVS Health from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of CVS Health from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of CVS Health from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of CVS Health from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $71.83.

CVS Health Price Performance

NYSE CVS traded up $0.07 on Tuesday, hitting $65.00. 9,300,849 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,836,170. CVS Health Co. has a 52 week low of $43.56 and a 52 week high of $71.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $66.45 and a 200-day moving average of $58.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $81.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.57.

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

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 22nd. CVS Health's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.