Virtu Financial LLC Purchases New Stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 123,317 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $5,536,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CVS. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 255.7% during the fourth quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 626 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in CVS Health in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Stock Performance

NYSE:CVS opened at $67.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.37, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $60.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.34. CVS Health Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.56 and a fifty-two week high of $80.75.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.30. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.24% and a return on equity of 9.11%. Equities research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.96%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 72.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CVS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on CVS Health from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Leerink Partnrs raised CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on CVS Health from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Edward Jones raised CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded CVS Health from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CVS Health presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.39.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Michael F. Mahoney acquired 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $66.70 per share, with a total value of $2,001,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 39,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,625,045.20. This represents a 320.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total transaction of $498,487.55. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $556,941.90. The trade was a 47.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.