Edward J. Ludwig Acquires 1,000 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Stock

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Director Edward J. Ludwig bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $53.88 per share, with a total value of $53,880.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 21,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,165,424.40. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of CVS stock opened at $55.90 on Friday. CVS Health Co. has a 1 year low of $53.70 and a 1 year high of $83.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $70.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.82, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $73.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.37.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.38). The firm had revenue of $88.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.33 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 13.53% and a net margin of 2.03%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.20 EPS. Analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd were paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.76%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.75%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CVS Health

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Keener Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in CVS Health during the 1st quarter worth approximately $63,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its position in CVS Health by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 262,335 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $20,924,000 after buying an additional 2,585 shares during the last quarter. WBI Investments LLC acquired a new position in CVS Health in the 1st quarter valued at $971,000. Affinity Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in CVS Health by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Affinity Investment Advisors LLC now owns 27,425 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,187,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 8.5% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 28,211 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,250,000 after acquiring an additional 2,210 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CVS has been the subject of a number of research reports. SVB Leerink reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective (down from $87.00) on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. UBS Group lowered shares of CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Thursday. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of CVS Health from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of CVS Health from $95.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CVS Health presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.35.

CVS Health Company 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.