CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Shares Acquired by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 14.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 13,366,403 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,660,321 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $600,019,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 boosted its stake in CVS Health by 25,484.4% during the 4th quarter. Hall Laurie J Trustee now owns 11,513 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $517,000 after acquiring an additional 11,468 shares during the last quarter. B&D White Capital Company LLC acquired a new position in CVS Health during the 4th quarter worth $417,000. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC increased its position in shares of CVS Health by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC now owns 7,302 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seizert Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 22.8% in the 4th quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 569,527 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $25,566,000 after purchasing an additional 105,708 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CVS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald raised CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group dropped their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on CVS Health from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Edward Jones raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CVS Health has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CVS Health news, Director Michael F. Mahoney purchased 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased 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 in the company, valued at $2,625,045.20. The trade was a 320.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total transaction of $498,487.55. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $556,941.90. This trade represents a 47.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CVS Health Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of CVS stock opened at $65.86 on Friday. CVS Health Co. has a 1 year low of $43.56 and a 1 year high of $71.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.04 billion, a PE ratio of 17.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $66.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.87. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.04%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 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.