Private Advisor Group LLC Lowers Stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Private Advisor Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) by 15.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 89,407 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after selling 16,454 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC's holdings in CVS Health were worth $4,013,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 7,567.7% in the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 2,402,901 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $107,866,000 after buying an additional 2,371,563 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in CVS Health by 3.6% during the 3rd 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. TOMS Capital Investment Management LP bought a new stake in CVS Health in the 3rd quarter worth $121,987,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of CVS Health by 5,864.2% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,730,343 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $108,804,000 after acquiring an additional 1,701,331 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at CVS Health

In related news, Director Michael F. Mahoney purchased 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $66.70 per share, for a total transaction of $2,001,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 39,356 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,625,045.20. This represents a 320.65 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CVS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of CVS Health from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $66.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of CVS Health from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded CVS Health from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their target price on CVS Health from 67.00 to 70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $70.00.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of CVS Health stock traded up $0.68 during trading on Thursday, reaching $64.54. 8,275,092 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,605,323. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $81.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.61. CVS Health Co. has a 52-week low of $43.56 and a 52-week high of $80.75. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.34.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 9.11% and a net margin of 1.24%. Sell-side analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 23rd. CVS Health's dividend payout ratio is 72.68%.

CVS Health Profile

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.