Bison Wealth LLC Sells 6,320 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Bison Wealth LLC decreased its holdings in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 58.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,465 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 6,320 shares during the quarter. Bison Wealth LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $353,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CVS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of CVS Health by 0.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,162,626 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $8,180,295,000 after acquiring an additional 485,744 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in CVS Health by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 33,576,388 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,128,984,000 after purchasing an additional 3,311,928 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in CVS Health by 29.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 27,487,238 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,919,159,000 after purchasing an additional 6,194,441 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 103,371.0% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,547,559 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,448,877,000 after buying an additional 15,532,533 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of CVS Health during the 4th quarter worth $1,425,416,000. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on CVS. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on CVS Health in a report on Monday, February 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $88.00 price objective for the company. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Leerink Partnrs restated an “outperform” rating on shares of CVS Health in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $87.00 price target on shares of CVS Health in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.44.

CVS Health Stock Performance

CVS opened at $69.03 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $87.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $75.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.77. CVS Health Co. has a 52-week low of $64.41 and a 52-week high of $83.25.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.11. CVS Health had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The business had revenue of $93.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.99 EPS. CVS Health’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 8.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.85%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is presently 41.18%.

Insider Activity

In other CVS Health news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total transaction of $2,267,947.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,059,916.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.