Weatherly Asset Management L. P. Sells 3,284 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. reduced its holdings in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 15.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 17,369 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 3,284 shares during the period. Weatherly Asset Management L. P.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $1,371,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CVS. FMR LLC lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 6,194,441 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 8,697.2% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,322,129 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $104,395,000 after purchasing an additional 1,307,100 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 49.9% during the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,095,978 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $146,341,000 after purchasing an additional 698,054 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,513,230 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $435,325,000 after purchasing an additional 616,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of CVS Health during the third quarter valued at $34,379,000. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CVS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $87.00 price target on shares of CVS Health in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Leerink Partnrs reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of CVS Health in a report on Monday, February 26th. SVB Leerink began 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. StockNews.com downgraded CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on CVS Health in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $78.00 target price on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at CVS Health

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 stock was 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 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 accessible through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CVS traded down $1.13 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $68.50. 8,441,734 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,757,553. 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 52-week low of $64.41 and a 52-week high of $83.25. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $75.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.77. The company has a market cap of $86.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.74, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.52.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.11. CVS Health had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 2.33%. The firm had revenue of $93.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 8.32 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.18%.

CVS Health 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.