Insider Buying: CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Director Acquires 1,000 Shares of Stock

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Director Edward J. Ludwig purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $53.88 per share, for a total transaction of $53,880.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 21,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,165,424.40. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

CVS Health Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:CVS opened at $55.90 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $73.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market cap of $70.45 billion, a PE ratio of 9.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.56. CVS Health Co. has a fifty-two week low of $53.70 and a fifty-two week high of $83.25.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.38). CVS Health had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.53%. The company had revenue of $88.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.33 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.20 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.76%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is 46.75%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CVS Health

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CVS. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 74.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 43,213 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,017,000 after purchasing an additional 18,385 shares in the last quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. raised its holdings 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 lifted its position in shares of CVS Health by 1.6% in the third quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC now owns 50,488 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,525,000 after buying an additional 774 shares during the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $1,351,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CVS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Leerink Partnrs downgraded CVS Health from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of CVS Health from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of CVS Health from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $87.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of CVS Health from $83.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.35.

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.