National Pension Service Grows Position in CVS Health Corporation $CVS

National Pension Service grew its stake in CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS) by 23.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,880,433 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 728,036 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned about 0.31% of CVS Health worth $267,672,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CVS. Simplify Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 415.8% in the second quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 46,966 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,240,000 after buying an additional 37,861 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners acquired a new position in CVS Health in the second quarter valued at $3,324,000. Weil Company Inc. acquired a new stake in CVS Health in the 2nd quarter worth about $200,000. Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,018,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its position in CVS Health by 3.9% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 26,842 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,852,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Trading Up 2.8%

Shares of CVS opened at $79.73 on Wednesday. CVS Health Corporation has a one year low of $43.56 and a one year high of $85.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $101.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 209.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $77.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.67.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $102.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $98.85 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 0.12% and a return on equity of 11.45%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.09 earnings per share. CVS Health has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.550-6.650 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that CVS Health Corporation will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 23rd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 700.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CVS Health

In related news, Director Anne A. Finucane sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.02, for a total transaction of $532,650.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 22,156 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,573,519.12. This represents a 25.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on CVS shares. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $78.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on CVS Health in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $91.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of CVS Health from $84.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of CVS Health from $79.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their price objective on CVS Health from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CVS Health presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.45.

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.