Simmons Bank Lowers Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Simmons Bank decreased its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 41.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,360 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 3,728 shares during the period. Simmons Bank’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $241,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its position in shares of CVS Health by 124.1% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 61,744 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,882,000 after purchasing an additional 34,198 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in CVS Health by 82.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 13,616 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $856,000 after buying an additional 6,158 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its position in shares of CVS Health by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 174,752 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $10,988,000 after buying an additional 6,400 shares in the last quarter. Fiducient Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of CVS Health in the third quarter valued at approximately $261,000. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of CVS Health by 8.5% during the third quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,402 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Michael F. Mahoney acquired 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $66.70 per share, for a total transaction of $2,001,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 39,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,625,045.20. The trade was a 320.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CVS Health Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE CVS opened at $64.54 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $81.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.63, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. CVS Health Co. has a twelve month low of $43.56 and a twelve month high of $80.75.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.12%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 23rd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CVS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Edward Jones upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of CVS Health from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CVS Health has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.00.

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.