tru Independence LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

tru Independence LLC trimmed its stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,305 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after selling 5,542 shares during the quarter. tru Independence LLC's holdings in CVS Health were worth $3,066,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CVS. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 7.2% during the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,397 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $151,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 3.5% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,268 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 13.1% in the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,681 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. Integrated Advisors Network LLC lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 0.7% in the third quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 27,625 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $1,737,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Widmann Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 1.8% in the third quarter. Widmann Financial Services Inc. now owns 11,506 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $724,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CVS shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on CVS Health from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. 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. UBS Group upped their price target on CVS Health from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded CVS Health from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $66.00 in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $62.00 price target on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CVS Health has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $68.12.

CVS Health Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of CVS stock traded up $1.65 on Monday, reaching $56.20. 11,338,811 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,756,655. CVS Health Co. has a 52 week low of $43.56 and a 52 week high of $80.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.72 billion, a PE ratio of 14.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.59. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $51.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.20.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $95.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.72 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 1.36%. CVS Health's quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.21 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 5.22 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.73%. CVS Health's payout ratio is currently 67.51%.

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.