HM Payson & Co. Sells 12,119 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

HM Payson & Co. trimmed its position in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 35.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,271 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 12,119 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $1,000,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Davis Selected Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 2,998.1% in the 4th quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 11,385,950 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $511,115,000 after acquiring an additional 11,018,438 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 11,897,034 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $748,085,000 after buying an additional 3,071,613 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in CVS Health during the 4th quarter worth $116,033,000. ARGA Investment Management LP lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 7,567.7% during the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 2,402,901 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $107,866,000 after buying an additional 2,371,563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,527,909 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,554,475,000 after buying an additional 1,989,066 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CVS Health Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:CVS opened at $66.34 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $56.42 and a 200-day moving average of $56.75. The company has a market capitalization of $83.64 billion, a PE ratio of 18.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.81. CVS Health Co. has a 52-week low of $43.56 and a 52-week high of $80.75.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CVS Health

In other CVS Health news, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total transaction of $498,487.55. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $556,941.90. This represents a 47.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael F. Mahoney acquired 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, for a total transaction of $2,001,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,625,045.20. This trade represents a 320.65 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CVS has been the topic of several research reports. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on CVS Health from 67.00 to 70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of CVS Health from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of CVS Health from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of CVS Health from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.83.

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.