Jennison Associates LLC Has $128.48 Million Position in CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS)

Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS) by 503.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,896,341 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,582,257 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $128,477,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CVS. Whitebox Advisors LLC acquired a new position in CVS Health during the 4th quarter worth about $249,000. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in CVS Health by 25.0% during the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 648,266 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $43,920,000 after purchasing an additional 129,535 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in CVS Health by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,981,262 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $608,481,000 after purchasing an additional 183,813 shares during the period. Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Can bought a new stake in shares of CVS Health in the 4th quarter valued at about $121,742,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,290,953 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $192,617,000 after acquiring an additional 293,406 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CVS shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on CVS Health from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of CVS Health in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Mizuho increased their price objective on CVS Health from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $84.00 price target (up previously from $76.00) on shares of CVS Health in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on CVS Health from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CVS Health has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.06.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of CVS Health stock opened at $63.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.63. CVS Health Corporation has a one year low of $43.56 and a one year high of $72.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.76.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.63. The firm had revenue of $94.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.07 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 10.59% and a net margin of 1.39%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that CVS Health Corporation will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 22nd will be issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 22nd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.22%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 63.48%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Guy P. Sansone purchased 1,570 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $63.70 per share, with a total value of $100,009.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 12,007 shares in the company, valued at $764,845.90. The trade was a 15.04% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.22% of the company’s stock.

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.