CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Stake Trimmed by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,027,821 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 53,553 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.16% of CVS Health worth $160,117,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in CVS Health by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,162,626 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $8,180,295,000 after acquiring an additional 485,744 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 27,487,238 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,919,159,000 after buying an additional 6,194,441 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,214,296 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $992,442,000 after buying an additional 305,564 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,136,920 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $987,041,000 after buying an additional 303,512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,717,825 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $864,821,000 after buying an additional 324,391 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at CVS Health

In other CVS Health news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total transaction of $2,267,947.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 39,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,059,916.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CVS Health Trading Down 0.2 %

CVS Health stock traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $67.18. The stock had a trading volume of 6,396,438 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,376,818. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.68 billion, a PE ratio of 10.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.52. CVS Health Co. has a 12 month low of $64.41 and a 12 month high of $83.25. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $93.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.58 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.99 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 8.31 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.96%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of CVS Health from $83.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Leerink Partnrs reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com cut shares of CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Barclays assumed coverage on CVS Health in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $78.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on CVS Health from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CVS Health has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.44.

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.