Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Has $511,000 Stock Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 17.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,384 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 2,398 shares during the quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC increased its stake in CVS Health by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC now owns 6,135 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 4,457 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $200,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in CVS Health by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,706 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Rogco LP lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Rogco LP now owns 6,752 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cozad Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in CVS Health by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,532 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on CVS Health from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Leerink Partners raised shares of CVS Health from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.39.

CVS Health Trading Down 0.7 %

CVS stock opened at $67.13 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $84.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $62.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.68. CVS Health Co. has a one year low of $43.56 and a one year high of $79.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 72.68%.

Insider Transactions at CVS Health

In related news, 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 directly owns 8,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $556,941.90. This trade represents a 47.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael F. Mahoney acquired 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $66.70 per share, with a total value of $2,001,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,625,045.20. This trade represents a 320.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 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.