River Global Investors LLP Buys New Shares in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

River Global Investors LLP bought a new stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,308 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $261,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CVS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of CVS Health by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,162,626 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $8,180,295,000 after acquiring an additional 485,744 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in CVS Health by 29.1% in 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 during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in CVS Health by 2.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,214,296 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $992,442,000 after purchasing an additional 305,564 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,136,920 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $987,041,000 after buying an additional 303,512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of CVS Health by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,717,825 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $864,821,000 after buying an additional 324,391 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of CVS traded down $0.16 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $55.74. The company had a trading volume of 9,684,943 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,726,009. The company has a market capitalization of $69.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.76, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.56. CVS Health Co. has a 12-month low of $53.70 and a 12-month high of $83.25. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

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

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd were given a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.77%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CVS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Leerink Partnrs downgraded shares of CVS Health from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price target (down previously from $90.00) on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group downgraded CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of CVS Health from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of CVS Health from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $87.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CVS Health has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.35.

Insider Activity at CVS Health

In other CVS Health news, Director Edward J. Ludwig purchased 1,000 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $53.88 per share, with a total value of $53,880.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 21,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,165,424.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other CVS Health news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, 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 available at this link. Also, Director Edward J. Ludwig purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $53.88 per share, with a total value of $53,880.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 21,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,165,424.40. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.