SouthState Corp Acquires 24,147 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

SouthState Corp lifted its holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 849.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 26,989 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,147 shares during the period. SouthState Corp’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $1,212,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CVS. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in CVS Health in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in CVS Health during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC raised its position in CVS Health by 255.7% in the fourth quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 626 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in CVS Health in the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on CVS. StockNews.com raised shares of CVS Health from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on CVS Health from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Edward Jones raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CVS Health presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.83.

CVS Health Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of CVS opened at $66.65 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.21, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a 50-day moving average of $58.89 and a 200 day moving average of $57.05. CVS Health Co. has a 1-year low of $43.56 and a 1-year 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.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.30. CVS Health had a return on equity of 9.11% and a net margin of 1.24%. On average, research analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 23rd. CVS Health’s payout ratio is currently 72.68%.

Insider Transactions at CVS Health

In related news, Director Michael F. Mahoney acquired 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $66.70 per share, for a total transaction of $2,001,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares in the company, valued at $2,625,045.20. The trade was a 320.65 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was 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 $556,941.90. The trade was a 47.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health 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.