Abacus Planning Group Inc. Acquires 731 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Abacus Planning Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 13.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,013 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 731 shares during the quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $407,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Barclays set a $79.00 price objective on CVS Health and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $84.00 target price (up previously from $76.00) on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CVS Health currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.75.

CVS Health Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:CVS opened at $63.61 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $80.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.38, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.56. CVS Health Co. has a 12 month low of $43.56 and a 12 month high of $72.51. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $65.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.92.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.63. The business had revenue of $94.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.07 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 9.11% and a net margin of 1.24%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd were paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.18%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 22nd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.48%.

CVS Health Company 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.