Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Decreases Stock Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lowered its position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 143,853 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 18,694 shares during the quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $6,458,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ridgewood Investments LLC raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 255.7% in the fourth 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 period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of CVS Health in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Financial Perspectives Inc grew its position in shares of CVS Health by 137.5% in the fourth quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 805 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 112.1% during the 4th quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. now owns 827 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CVS. Evercore ISI upped their price target on CVS Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of CVS Health from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Leerink Partners raised shares of CVS Health from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on CVS Health from $51.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CVS Health presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.83.

CVS Health Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE CVS opened at $68.59 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $86.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.74, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.57. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $65.96 and its 200 day moving average is $58.70. CVS Health Co. has a 52 week low of $43.56 and a 52 week high of $71.45.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted 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 net margin of 1.24% and a return on equity of 9.11%. On average, equities research analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.88%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.68%.

Insider Activity at CVS Health

In other news, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael F. Mahoney purchased 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 currently owned by company insiders.

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.