CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Director Michael F. Mahoney Purchases 30,000 Shares

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Director Michael F. Mahoney bought 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought 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 directly owns 39,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,625,045.20. This trade represents a 320.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

CVS Health Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of CVS traded up $0.93 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $66.50. 4,866,596 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,065,125. The company has a market cap of $83.85 billion, a PE ratio of 18.19, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $51.51 and its 200-day moving average is $56.07. CVS Health Co. has a 52 week low of $43.56 and a 52 week high of $80.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.81.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share (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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 5.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.00%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.68%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dodge & Cox lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 70,105,899 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,147,054,000 after purchasing an additional 7,075,209 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its stake in CVS Health by 26.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,039,777 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,739,927,000 after buying an additional 12,819,148 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake 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 worth $3,554,475,000 after buying an additional 1,989,066 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in CVS Health by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,051,540 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,211,582,000 after buying an additional 689,867 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 26,666,401 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,196,989,000 after purchasing an additional 1,212,126 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group cut their target price 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on CVS Health from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays lifted their price target on CVS Health from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CVS Health presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.00.

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.