Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Has $23.37 Million Stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc cut its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 28.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 520,497 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 211,195 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $23,365,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CVS. Norges Bank bought a new position in CVS Health during the 4th quarter valued at about $839,574,000. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 26.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,039,777 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,739,927,000 after buying an additional 12,819,148 shares in the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 2,998.1% in the fourth quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 11,385,950 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $511,115,000 after acquiring an additional 11,018,438 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox grew its position in CVS Health by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 70,105,899 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,147,054,000 after acquiring an additional 7,075,209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in CVS Health by 49.3% during the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 19,610,579 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $880,319,000 after purchasing an additional 6,475,271 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Price Performance

CVS opened at $66.98 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $84.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.60. CVS Health Co. has a 12 month low of $43.56 and a 12 month high of $72.51. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $66.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.04.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.63. CVS Health had a return on equity of 9.11% and a net margin of 1.24%. The company had revenue of $94.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd were issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 22nd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CVS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus set a $77.00 price objective on CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Wolfe Research upped their price target on shares of CVS Health from 67.00 to 70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of CVS Health from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Michael F. Mahoney bought 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $66.70 per share, with a total value of $2,001,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 39,356 shares in the company, valued at $2,625,045.20. This represents a 320.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $556,941.90. This trade represents a 47.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.22% 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.