CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Shares Sold by Fernwood Investment Management LLC

Fernwood Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 50,995 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 3,471 shares during the quarter. CVS Health comprises approximately 1.0% of Fernwood Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Fernwood Investment Management LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $4,027,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC raised its stake in CVS Health by 74.0% during the third quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 43,213 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,017,000 after buying an additional 18,385 shares in the last quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. raised its stake in CVS Health by 26.5% during the third quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 991,601 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $69,261,000 after buying an additional 207,702 shares in the last quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC now owns 50,488 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,525,000 after purchasing an additional 774 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 10,405 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $726,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the period. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 19,355 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,351,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on 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. StockNews.com cut CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Leerink Partnrs reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of CVS Health in a report on Monday, February 26th. Barclays began coverage on CVS Health in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $78.00 price objective for the company. Finally, SVB Leerink began coverage on CVS Health in a report on Monday, February 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $88.00 price objective for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CVS Health presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at CVS Health

In other CVS Health news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was 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 directly owns 39,765 shares in the company, valued at $3,059,916.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of CVS traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $67.44. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,556,157 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,605,164. The business has a fifty day moving average of $74.42 and a 200 day moving average of $73.67. The company has a market cap of $85.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.52. CVS Health Co. has a 1 year low of $64.41 and a 1 year high of $83.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.11. CVS Health had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 2.33%. The business had revenue of $93.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.99 earnings per share. CVS Health’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.94%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is 41.18%.

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.