CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Shares Sold by Essex LLC

Essex LLC reduced its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,493 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 884 shares during the quarter. Essex LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $283,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CVS. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 33.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 219,030 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $17,295,000 after buying an additional 54,616 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in CVS Health by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 26,985 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,152,000 after buying an additional 827 shares during the period. &PARTNERS purchased a new position in CVS Health in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $430,000. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health in the first quarter worth $203,000. Finally, Steph & Co. increased its position in shares of CVS Health by 192.0% during the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 438 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CVS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $68.00 price objective on shares of CVS Health in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on CVS Health from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on CVS Health from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on CVS Health from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $59.00 to $85.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.26.

CVS Health Trading Down 5.2 %

CVS stock opened at $60.34 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $59.80 and a 200-day moving average of $60.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $75.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.60, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.54. CVS Health Co. has a twelve month low of $52.77 and a twelve month high of $83.25.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.10. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.98% and a return on equity of 12.72%. The company had revenue of $91.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $91.41 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.21 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 6.51 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 46.75%.

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.