Nicolet Advisory Services LLC Decreases Stock Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC lowered its position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 39.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,573 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 4,895 shares during the quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $364,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in CVS Health during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $839,574,000. Davis Selected Advisers grew its position in shares of CVS Health by 2,998.1% during the fourth quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 11,385,950 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $511,115,000 after buying an additional 11,018,438 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 49.3% in the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 19,610,579 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $880,319,000 after buying an additional 6,475,271 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in CVS Health in the fourth quarter valued at $116,033,000. Finally, ARGA Investment Management LP boosted its stake 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 last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of CVS opened at $63.54 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $63.47 and its 200-day moving average is $58.01. CVS Health Co. has a one year low of $43.56 and a one year high of $75.12. 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 (NYSE:CVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.19%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 stock was sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total value of $498,487.55. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael F. Mahoney acquired 30,000 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $66.70 per share, with a total value of $2,001,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 39,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,625,045.20. This represents a 320.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CVS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. 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 note on Thursday, February 13th. Leerink Partnrs raised CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Edward Jones upgraded CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on CVS Health from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Argus set a $77.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Four investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.39.

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.