National Pension Service Buys 135,887 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,979,289 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after acquiring an additional 135,887 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.24% of CVS Health worth $133,740,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in CVS Health by 3.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,527,909 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $3,554,475,000 after buying an additional 1,989,066 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,361,673 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $1,651,997,000 after acquiring an additional 461,569 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 13,135,308 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $825,948,000 after acquiring an additional 198,920 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in CVS Health by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,208,668 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $767,681,000 after acquiring an additional 304,386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its stake in CVS Health by 34.8% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 11,897,034 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $748,085,000 after purchasing an additional 3,071,613 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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 the business's 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,625,045.20. This represents a 320.65 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CVS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of CVS Health from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on CVS Health from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group dropped their price target on CVS Health from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on CVS Health from $60.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $69.83.

CVS Health Stock Up 2.1 %

CVS traded up $1.37 on Friday, hitting $65.85. 10,474,843 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,550,715. 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 stock's fifty day moving average is $54.33 and its 200-day moving average is $56.47. The company has a market cap of $83.02 billion, a PE ratio of 17.99, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.61. CVS Health Co. has a 12 month low of $43.56 and a 12 month high of $80.75.

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

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.04%. 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.