Lincoln National Corp Trims Stock Holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Lincoln National Corp cut its holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,913 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 2,189 shares during the period. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $2,046,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its stake in CVS Health by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 2,859 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 3,378 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC grew its position in CVS Health by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC now owns 3,612 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC raised its position in CVS Health by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC now owns 4,498 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,639 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CVS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Leerink Partnrs downgraded CVS Health from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. UBS Group cut shares of CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of CVS Health from $76.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. SVB Leerink reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price (down previously from $87.00) on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on CVS Health from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CVS Health currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.55.

Insider Transactions at CVS Health

In other news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total value of $2,267,947.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,059,916.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,059,916.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Edward J. Ludwig purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $53.88 per share, with a total value of $53,880.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 21,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,165,424.40. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of CVS stock traded down $0.63 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $55.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,183,236 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,776,579. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.81. CVS Health Co. has a 52-week low of $53.70 and a 52-week high of $83.25. The stock has a market cap of $69.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.65, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $71.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.09.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.38). The company had revenue of $88.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.33 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.53%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.20 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 7.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.83%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.75%.

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.