CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Shares Acquired by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 361,954 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after buying an additional 2,008 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $16,248,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 3.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,527,909 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,554,475,000 after acquiring an additional 1,989,066 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,361,673 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,651,997,000 after acquiring an additional 461,569 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 1.5% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 13,135,308 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $825,948,000 after purchasing an additional 198,920 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,918,949 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $579,932,000 after purchasing an additional 710,281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $748,085,000 after purchasing an additional 3,071,613 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of CVS opened at $66.01 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. CVS Health Co. has a 12 month low of $43.56 and a 12 month high of $80.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $55.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.63. The firm has a market cap of $83.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.04, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.61.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 9.11% and a net margin of 1.24%. Analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 23rd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CVS shares. Truist Financial raised their price objective on CVS Health from $60.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on CVS Health from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on CVS Health from 67.00 to 70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on CVS Health from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.83.

Insider Transactions at CVS Health

In other news, Director Michael F. Mahoney purchased 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $66.70 per share, with a total value of $2,001,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,625,045.20. The trade was a 320.65 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.