New York State Common Retirement Fund Increases Stock Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,146,907 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 148,040 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.17% of CVS Health worth $96,375,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CVS. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in CVS Health by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 410,001 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $25,781,000 after acquiring an additional 36,132 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its stake in CVS Health by 28.7% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 46,938 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,951,000 after acquiring an additional 10,465 shares during the last quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. boosted its stake in CVS Health by 43.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 122,682 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $7,125,000 after acquiring an additional 37,395 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in CVS Health by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,434,476 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $90,200,000 after acquiring an additional 66,244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in CVS Health by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 134,523 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $8,459,000 after acquiring an additional 10,453 shares during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at CVS Health

In other news, Director Michael F. Mahoney purchased 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $66.70 per share, with a total value of $2,001,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares in the company, valued at $2,625,045.20. This trade represents a 320.65 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on CVS. StockNews.com upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of CVS Health from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of CVS Health from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of CVS Health from 67.00 to 70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Four investment 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.00.

CVS Health Stock Performance

NYSE:CVS opened at $66.35 on Thursday. CVS Health Co. has a twelve month low of $43.56 and a twelve month high of $80.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a 50-day moving average of $51.80 and a 200-day moving average of $56.12. The firm has a market cap of $83.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.61.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.30. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.24% and a return on equity of 9.11%. Analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 5.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 23rd. CVS Health’s payout ratio is presently 72.68%.

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.