Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Sells 118,525 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC lessened its position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) by 13.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 775,795 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after selling 118,525 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC owned approximately 0.06% of CVS Health worth $34,825,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in CVS Health in the third quarter valued at about $1,369,000. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in CVS Health during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $409,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in CVS Health by 67.2% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 64,489 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $4,055,000 after buying an additional 25,925 shares during the period. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc bought a new position in CVS Health in the third quarter valued at approximately $278,000. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the third quarter worth $6,614,000. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Michael F. Mahoney acquired 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $66.70 per share, for a total transaction of $2,001,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares of the company's stock, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the business'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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,394 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $556,941.90. The trade was a 47.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of CVS Health from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on CVS Health from 67.00 to 70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on CVS Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of CVS Health from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CVS Health currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $71.28.

CVS Health Stock Performance

CVS traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $69.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,764,264 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,707,115. The company's 50-day moving average is $64.84 and its 200-day moving average is $58.43. CVS Health Co. has a 52 week low of $43.56 and a 52 week high of $71.66. The firm has a market cap of $87.13 billion, a PE ratio of 18.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.81.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.85%. CVS Health's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.