Teacher Retirement System of Texas Decreases Holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lowered its position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 60.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 81,112 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 126,096 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in CVS Health were worth $3,641,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CVS. Ridgewood Investments LLC increased its position in shares of CVS Health by 255.7% during the 4th quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 626 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in CVS Health in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CVS Health during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Financial Perspectives Inc raised its holdings in CVS Health by 137.5% in the 4th quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 805 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on CVS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on CVS Health from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Argus set a $77.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of CVS Health from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CVS Health presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.39.

CVS Health Price Performance

CVS Health stock opened at $67.54 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $60.92 and its 200 day moving average is $57.40. 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 market cap of $85.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.45, a PEG 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.

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

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.68%.

Insider Transactions at CVS Health

In other CVS Health news, Director Michael F. Mahoney acquired 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, 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 purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the business’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 directly owns 8,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $556,941.90. This represents a 47.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.