Polaris Capital Management LLC Cuts Stake in CVS Health Corporation $CVS

Polaris Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS) by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 487,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 20,300 shares during the period. CVS Health comprises 2.2% of Polaris Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Polaris Capital Management LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $33,600,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in CVS Health by 503.8% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,896,341 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $128,477,000 after buying an additional 1,582,257 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in CVS Health by 25.0% during the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 648,266 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $43,920,000 after acquiring an additional 129,535 shares in the last quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. grew its holdings in CVS Health by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. now owns 409,735 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $28,264,000 after acquiring an additional 6,615 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings 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 worth $608,481,000 after acquiring an additional 183,813 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in CVS Health by 20.1% during the 1st quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 3,421,519 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $231,808,000 after acquiring an additional 572,533 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on CVS. Bernstein Bank lowered their price target on shares of CVS Health from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $71.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Baird R W upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Zacks Research cut shares of CVS Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $78.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CVS Health has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.25.

CVS Health Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:CVS opened at $77.51 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $98.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $70.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.62. CVS Health Corporation has a 1-year low of $43.56 and a 1-year high of $79.20.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.35. The firm 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%. CVS Health’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.83 EPS. CVS Health has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.300-6.400 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that CVS Health Corporation 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 Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 23rd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CVS Health news, Director Anne A. Finucane sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.02, for a total transaction of $532,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 22,156 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,573,519.12. This represents a 25.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.22% of the company’s stock.

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.