Commerce Bank Reduces Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Commerce Bank lowered its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 37.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 40,594 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 24,708 shares during the period. Commerce Bank’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $1,822,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors lifted its position in CVS Health by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 26,666,401 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,196,989,000 after purchasing an additional 1,212,126 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Sarl increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 75.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 47,151 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,117,000 after purchasing an additional 20,306 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 2,115,154 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $94,890,000 after purchasing an additional 69,641 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 77.2% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 1,024 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 446 shares during the period. Finally, MSH Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in CVS Health in the 4th quarter worth $218,000. 80.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Argus set a $77.00 price objective on CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CVS Health has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.83.

CVS Health Price Performance

CVS stock opened at $65.38 on Tuesday. 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 market cap of $82.43 billion, a PE ratio of 17.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.57. CVS Health Co. has a 12 month low of $43.56 and a 12 month high of $71.45. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $66.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.76.

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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total value of $498,487.55. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael F. Mahoney purchased 30,000 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $66.70 per share, with a total value of $2,001,000.00. Following the acquisition, 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CVS Health 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.