Zhang Financial LLC Trims Stock Holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Zhang Financial LLC reduced its stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 5.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,210 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 407 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $575,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CVS. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in CVS Health by 10.6% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,969 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,715 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 10.1% during the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 26,785 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,870,000 after buying an additional 2,460 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 10.8% during the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,274 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $438,000 after buying an additional 609 shares during the period. Compass Ion Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the third quarter worth approximately $701,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 8.9% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 137,085 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $9,570,000 after buying an additional 11,224 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CVS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen lowered shares of CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Barclays lowered their price target on CVS Health from $78.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on CVS Health from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Leerink Partnrs downgraded CVS Health from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group downgraded CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $85.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $76.75.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of CVS Health stock traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $57.46. 9,542,737 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,949,526. CVS Health Co. has a 1 year low of $53.70 and a 1 year high of $83.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The business has a 50-day moving average of $67.98 and a 200-day moving average of $72.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.56.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.31 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 company had revenue of $88.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.20 EPS. CVS Health’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 7.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 19th. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.75%.

Insider Transactions at CVS Health

In other CVS Health news, Director Edward J. Ludwig acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $53.88 per share, for a total transaction of $53,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,165,424.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.