Plato Investment Management Ltd Cuts Stake in CVS Health Corporation $CVS

Plato Investment Management Ltd lessened its holdings in CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS) by 3.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,653 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 1,381 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $2,784,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bell Investment Advisors Inc grew its stake in CVS Health by 119.8% during the 1st quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 455 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health during the first quarter worth about $34,000. Costello Asset Management INC lifted its stake in CVS Health by 281.3% in the first quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 572 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in CVS Health during the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 39.4% in the 1st quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 637 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at CVS Health

In related news, Director Anne A. Finucane sold 7,500 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.02, for a total value of $532,650.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 22,156 shares in the company, valued at $1,573,519.12. This trade represents a 25.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on CVS shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $78.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Robert W. Baird raised CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $71.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on CVS Health from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Baird R W raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of CVS Health from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $77.89.

CVS Health Stock Up 2.1%

CVS stock opened at $71.71 on Wednesday. CVS Health Corporation has a 12 month low of $43.56 and a 12 month high of $74.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company has a market cap of $90.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $66.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.09.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $98.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.87 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.17% and a return on equity of 10.51%. The business’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. CVS Health has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.300-6.400 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that CVS Health Corporation will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 22nd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is 74.30%.

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.