California Public Employees Retirement System Has $224.19 Million Holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,839,289 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,559 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $224,190,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 74.0% during the third quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 43,213 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,017,000 after purchasing an additional 18,385 shares during the period. Value Partners Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 26.5% in the third quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 991,601 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $69,261,000 after buying an additional 207,702 shares during the period. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of CVS Health by 1.6% during the third quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC now owns 50,488 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,525,000 after acquiring an additional 774 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 2.3% during the third quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 10,405 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $726,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the period. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC lifted its position in CVS Health by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 19,355 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,351,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CVS shares. Leerink Partnrs reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $87.00 price objective on shares of CVS Health in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of CVS Health from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.44.

CVS Health Stock Up 0.6 %

CVS stock traded up $0.39 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $70.02. 755,154 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,657,961. The company has a market cap of $88.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 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 fifty day moving average price is $75.13 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $93.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.58 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 15.25%. CVS Health’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.99 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 8.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total transaction of $2,267,947.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 39,765 shares in the company, valued at $3,059,916.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.