Smith Moore & CO. Lowers Stock Holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Smith Moore & CO. trimmed its position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) by 25.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,346 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after selling 4,219 shares during the period. Smith Moore & CO.'s holdings in CVS Health were worth $554,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 28.7% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 46,938 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $2,951,000 after acquiring an additional 10,465 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in CVS Health by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,434,476 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $90,200,000 after purchasing an additional 66,244 shares during the last quarter. Hall Laurie J Trustee raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 25,484.4% in the fourth quarter. Hall Laurie J Trustee now owns 11,513 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $517,000 after buying an additional 11,468 shares during the last quarter. B&D White Capital Company LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the fourth quarter worth $417,000. Finally, Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC grew its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC now owns 7,302 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $334,000 after buying an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CVS Health Price Performance

CVS stock traded up $0.59 during trading on Friday, hitting $69.56. The stock had a trading volume of 12,536,878 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,750,465. The company's 50-day moving average price is $65.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.51. CVS Health Co. has a twelve month low of $43.56 and a twelve month high of $71.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.01, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given 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 yield of 3.82%. CVS Health's payout ratio is presently 72.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CVS. UBS Group reduced their target price on CVS Health from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Wolfe Research upped 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. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of CVS Health from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of CVS Health from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $71.28.

Insider Activity at CVS Health

In other news, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 8,394 shares in the company, valued at $556,941.90. This represents a 47.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Michael F. Mahoney acquired 30,000 shares of CVS Health 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 transaction, the director now owns 39,356 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,625,045.20. This represents a 320.65 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.