Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC Takes Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 7,531 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $595,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CVS. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of CVS Health by 29.1% during the 3rd 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 period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of CVS Health by 8,697.2% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,322,129 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $104,395,000 after acquiring an additional 1,307,100 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 49.9% during the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,095,978 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $146,341,000 after buying an additional 698,054 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,513,230 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $435,325,000 after buying an additional 616,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health during the 3rd quarter worth $34,379,000. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on CVS. SVB Leerink began coverage on CVS Health in a report on Monday, February 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $88.00 price target for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $87.00 price target on shares of CVS Health in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays began coverage on CVS Health in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $78.00 price target for the company. Leerink Partnrs reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of CVS Health in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on CVS Health from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.44.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the 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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of CVS stock opened at $67.28 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $84.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.40, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $74.42 and a 200-day moving average of $73.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. CVS Health Co. has a 1-year low of $64.41 and a 1-year high of $83.25.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $93.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

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 $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.95%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is currently 41.18%.

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.