National Pension Service Acquires 45,832 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,309,273 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,832 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned about 0.18% of CVS Health worth $182,340,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blume Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in CVS Health by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. now owns 91,759 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $7,245,000 after purchasing an additional 5,250 shares during the period. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its holdings in CVS Health by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 97,613 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $7,707,000 after purchasing an additional 10,573 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders grew its holdings in CVS Health by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 13,497 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,066,000 after purchasing an additional 747 shares during the period. Hyman Charles D acquired a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the fourth quarter worth $222,000. Finally, Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its position in CVS Health by 48.3% in the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 8,151 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $654,000 after buying an additional 2,653 shares during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $66.00 price objective (down previously from $90.00) on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Bank of America reduced their price target on CVS Health from $95.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Leerink Partnrs cut CVS Health from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Piper Sandler increased their price target 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, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on CVS Health from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.67.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CVS traded down $0.81 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $54.93. 13,618,157 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,890,314. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. CVS Health Co. has a 12 month low of $53.70 and a 12 month high of $83.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $71.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.09.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.38). CVS Health had a return on equity of 13.53% and a net margin of 2.03%. The firm had revenue of $88.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.20 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd were issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.84%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.75%.

Insider Activity at CVS Health

In other news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 39,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,059,916.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Edward J. Ludwig purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $53.88 per share, for a total transaction of $53,880.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 21,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,165,424.40. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 39,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,059,916.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.