Ellsworth Advisors LLC Purchases 734 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 18,945 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 734 shares during the period. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $1,496,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CVS. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of CVS Health by 103,371.0% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,547,559 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,448,877,000 after purchasing an additional 15,532,533 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in CVS Health in the fourth quarter worth $1,425,416,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 29.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 27,487,238 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,919,159,000 after acquiring an additional 6,194,441 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 3,311,928 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 97.8% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,483,154 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $379,052,000 after acquiring an additional 2,711,102 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CVS Health Stock Performance

CVS Health stock traded up $0.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $79.76. 8,981,310 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,174,262. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.37 billion, a PE ratio of 12.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.63. CVS Health Co. has a 12-month low of $64.41 and a 12-month high of $83.25. The business’s 50-day moving average is $75.66 and its 200-day moving average is $73.46.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $93.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.58 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 2.33%. CVS Health’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.99 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 8.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on CVS shares. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on CVS Health from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on CVS Health from $102.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on CVS Health from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 8th. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on CVS Health in a report on Monday, February 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $88.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $87.00 price target on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CVS Health presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.21.

Insider Activity at CVS Health

In other CVS Health news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,765 shares in the company, valued at $3,059,916.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.