CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Position Boosted by Sowell Financial Services LLC

Sowell Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) by 17.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 38,370 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after purchasing an additional 5,689 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC's holdings in CVS Health were worth $1,722,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Davis Selected Advisers lifted its position in CVS Health by 2,998.1% during the fourth quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 11,385,950 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $511,115,000 after purchasing an additional 11,018,438 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 11,897,034 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $748,085,000 after acquiring an additional 3,071,613 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in CVS Health during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $116,033,000. ARGA Investment Management LP grew its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 7,567.7% during the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 2,402,901 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $107,866,000 after buying an additional 2,371,563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,527,909 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $3,554,475,000 after purchasing an additional 1,989,066 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CVS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays increased 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. Leerink Partners raised CVS Health from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded CVS Health from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group cut their price objective 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. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of CVS Health from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four equities research 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.com, CVS Health currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $69.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $556,941.90. This represents a 47.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction 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 on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $66.70 per share, for a total transaction of $2,001,000.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

CVS Health Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:CVS traded up $0.00 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $64.98. The stock had a trading volume of 3,283,082 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,601,402. CVS Health Co. has a 1 year low of $43.56 and a 1 year high of $80.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.53. 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 firm's 50 day moving average is $57.24 and its 200-day moving average is $56.83.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 1.24% and a return on equity of 9.11%. Research analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 23rd. CVS Health's payout ratio 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.