Plan Group Financial LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Plan Group Financial LLC cut its stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 47.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,245 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 4,697 shares during the quarter. Plan Group Financial LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of CVS Health by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,527,909 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,554,475,000 after buying an additional 1,989,066 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in CVS Health by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,361,673 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,651,997,000 after acquiring an additional 461,569 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in CVS Health by 1.5% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 13,135,308 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $825,948,000 after buying an additional 198,920 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,208,668 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $767,681,000 after acquiring an additional 304,386 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 11,897,034 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $748,085,000 after purchasing an additional 3,071,613 shares during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CVS Health Stock Performance

CVS Health stock opened at $65.47 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.07. CVS Health Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.56 and a fifty-two week high of $80.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $82.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.61.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.30. CVS Health had a return on equity of 9.11% and a net margin of 1.24%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 5.92 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.06%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on CVS shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of CVS Health from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho cut their price target on CVS Health from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CVS Health has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.00.

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.