Primecap Management Co. CA Decreases Stock Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Primecap Management Co. CA trimmed its position in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,997,455 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 213,570 shares during the quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA owned 0.24% of CVS Health worth $134,556,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Davis Selected Advisers grew its holdings in CVS Health by 2,998.1% during the 4th quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 11,385,950 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $511,115,000 after purchasing an additional 11,018,438 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of CVS Health by 49.3% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 19,610,579 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $880,319,000 after buying an additional 6,475,271 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 34.8% in the third 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 during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the 4th quarter worth approximately $116,033,000. Finally, ARGA Investment Management LP boosted 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 valued at $107,866,000 after acquiring an additional 2,371,563 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at CVS Health

In related news, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total transaction of $498,487.55. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael F. Mahoney purchased 30,000 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost 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. The trade was a 320.65 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CVS Health Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE CVS opened at $67.49 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $85.09 billion, a PE ratio of 18.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. CVS Health Co. has a 52 week low of $43.56 and a 52 week high of $80.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $59.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.12.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, sell-side analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 23rd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CVS shares. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on CVS Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on shares of CVS Health from 67.00 to 70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of CVS Health from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Edward Jones upgraded CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on CVS Health from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.