CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Stock Position Decreased by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its position in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 67,375 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 4,806 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $3,024,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Widmann Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 1.8% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC now owns 6,135 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $275,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its position in CVS Health by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 4,457 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $200,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Rogco LP increased its position in CVS Health by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Rogco LP now owns 6,752 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $303,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. Finally, Cozad Asset Management Inc. increased its position in CVS Health by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,532 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $293,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on CVS shares. Leerink Partners raised CVS Health from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Edward Jones raised CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on CVS Health from $60.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on CVS Health from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on CVS Health from 67.00 to 70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael F. Mahoney bought 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average price 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 in the company, valued at $2,625,045.20. The trade was a 320.65 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total value of $498,487.55. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $556,941.90. The trade was a 47.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of CVS stock opened at $68.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $86.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.28. CVS Health Co. has a one year low of $43.56 and a one year high of $80.75.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.87%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.68%.

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.