GFS Advisors LLC Sells 5,515 Shares of CVS Health Corporation $CVS

GFS Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS) by 60.5% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,600 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 5,515 shares during the quarter. GFS Advisors LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $248,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 503.8% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,896,341 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $128,477,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582,257 shares during the last quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 1.6% in the second quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. now owns 409,735 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $28,264,000 after purchasing an additional 6,615 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in CVS Health by 25.0% during the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 648,266 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $43,920,000 after buying an additional 129,535 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in CVS Health by 2.1% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,981,262 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $608,481,000 after buying an additional 183,813 shares during the period. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC grew its position in CVS Health by 20.1% during the first quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 3,421,519 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $231,808,000 after buying an additional 572,533 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CVS shares. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of CVS Health from $76.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of CVS Health from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Bernstein Bank cut their target price on shares of CVS Health from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $71.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $79.00 in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.80.

CVS Health Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of CVS Health stock opened at $77.89 on Friday. CVS Health Corporation has a 12-month low of $43.56 and a 12-month high of $79.20. The company has a market cap of $98.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.76, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $72.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.67.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.35. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.17% and a return on equity of 10.51%. The firm had revenue of $98.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. CVS Health has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.300-6.400 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that CVS Health Corporation will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, October 23rd will be paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 23rd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Anne A. Finucane sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.02, for a total value of $532,650.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 22,156 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,573,519.12. This trade represents a 25.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.22% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.