Benjamin Edwards Inc. Raises Stock Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 10.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,353 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CVS. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of CVS Health by 74.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 43,213 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,017,000 after purchasing an additional 18,385 shares during the period. Value Partners Investments Inc. raised its position in CVS Health by 26.5% in the 3rd quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 991,601 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $69,261,000 after purchasing an additional 207,702 shares during the last quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC boosted its stake in CVS Health by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC now owns 50,488 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,525,000 after purchasing an additional 774 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its position in CVS Health by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 10,405 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $726,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 2.6% in the third quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 19,355 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,351,000 after buying an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at CVS Health

In other news, Director Edward J. Ludwig bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $53.88 per share, with a total value of $53,880.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 21,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,165,424.40. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Edward J. Ludwig bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $53.88 per share, with a total value of $53,880.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 21,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,165,424.40. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were 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 directly owns 39,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,059,916.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of CVS Health stock traded up $0.75 on Friday, hitting $55.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 23,946,075 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,498,538. CVS Health Co. has a 52-week low of $53.70 and a 52-week high of $83.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $73.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.37. The company has a market capitalization of $70.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.56.

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

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd were paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.76%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 19th. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 46.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CVS shares. Bank of America dropped their price target on CVS Health from $95.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group downgraded CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of CVS Health from $86.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, SVB Leerink reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $60.00 price target (down from $87.00) on shares of CVS Health in a report on Wednesday. Eight 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 company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.35.

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.