Waycross Partners LLC Trims Stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Waycross Partners LLC reduced its position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 172,957 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 11,780 shares during the quarter. CVS Health accounts for about 2.6% of Waycross Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Waycross Partners LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $13,657,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 2,859 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 3,378 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC now owns 3,612 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC now owns 4,498 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,639 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays assumed coverage on CVS Health in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $78.00 target price for the company. Leerink Partnrs reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $87.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on CVS Health from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on CVS Health from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CVS Health currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at CVS Health

In other news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total value of $2,267,947.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,059,916.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CVS Health Stock Up 0.4 %

CVS traded up $0.28 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $67.73. 13,476,347 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,639,692. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.62. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $64.41 and a 12-month high of $83.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.48, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.52.

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

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.