Wright Investors Service Inc. Sells 1,925 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Wright Investors Service Inc. lessened its holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 43,317 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 1,925 shares during the period. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $3,420,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CVS. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 15,532,533 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of CVS Health during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,425,416,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 29.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 27,487,238 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,919,159,000 after acquiring an additional 6,194,441 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of CVS Health by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 33,576,388 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,128,984,000 after buying an additional 3,311,928 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of CVS Health by 97.8% during the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,483,154 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $379,052,000 after buying an additional 2,711,102 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CVS. SVB Leerink began coverage on shares of CVS Health in a report on Monday, February 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $88.00 price objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $87.00 price target on shares of CVS Health in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of CVS Health from $83.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 8th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs restated an “outperform” rating on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.44.

Insider Activity

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

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CVS traded up $0.63 on Thursday, reaching $69.23. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,537,937 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,789,963. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.73. The company has a market cap of $87.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.71, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.86. CVS Health Co. has a 52-week low of $64.41 and a 52-week high of $83.25.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.12 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $93.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 8.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.84%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.18%.

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.