Estabrook Capital Management Sells 20,800 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Estabrook Capital Management decreased its holdings in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) by 52.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,771 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after selling 20,800 shares during the quarter. Estabrook Capital Management's holdings in CVS Health were worth $843,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CVS. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in CVS Health in the third quarter worth approximately $1,369,000. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the 3rd quarter valued at about $409,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 6.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 224,248 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $14,101,000 after purchasing an additional 13,120 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its position in CVS Health by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,156 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $513,000 after purchasing an additional 1,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 26.8% in the 3rd quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 1,220 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.66% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded CVS Health from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on CVS Health from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Argus set a $77.00 target price on CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Leerink Partners raised CVS Health from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CVS Health currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $71.28.

CVS Health Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of CVS Health stock traded down $0.37 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $69.14. The stock had a trading volume of 2,849,179 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,731,712. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.57. CVS Health Co. has a 1 year low of $43.56 and a 1 year high of $71.66. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.51.

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

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. CVS Health's dividend payout ratio is presently 72.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total value 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 $556,941.90. This trade represents a 47.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Michael F. Mahoney purchased 30,000 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $66.70 per share, with a total value of $2,001,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.