Vinva Investment Management Ltd Increases Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 58,789 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,343 shares during the quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $2,583,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of CVS Health by 28.7% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 46,938 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,951,000 after acquiring an additional 10,465 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of CVS Health by 4.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,434,476 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $90,200,000 after acquiring an additional 66,244 shares during the last quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in CVS Health by 8.4% in the third quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 134,523 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $8,459,000 after buying an additional 10,453 shares during the last quarter. Hall Laurie J Trustee increased its holdings in CVS Health by 25,484.4% in the fourth quarter. Hall Laurie J Trustee now owns 11,513 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $517,000 after buying an additional 11,468 shares during the last quarter. Finally, B&D White Capital Company LLC bought a new stake in CVS Health in the fourth quarter valued at about $417,000. 80.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CVS opened at $67.84 on Thursday. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.20. The company has a market cap of $85.53 billion, a PE ratio of 18.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. CVS Health Co. has a 12-month low of $43.56 and a 12-month high of $80.75.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its earnings results 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a $0.665 dividend. 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 3.92%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on CVS Health from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Edward Jones raised CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on CVS Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on CVS Health from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Michael F. Mahoney bought 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost 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 $2,625,045.20. The trade was a 320.65 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 value of $498,487.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,394 shares in the company, valued at $556,941.90. This represents a 47.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.