Blume Capital Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Blume Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 91,759 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,250 shares during the quarter. CVS Health accounts for about 1.9% of Blume Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Blume Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $7,245,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CVS. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 27,487,238 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,919,159,000 after buying an additional 6,194,441 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 8,697.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,307,100 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 49.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 698,054 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in CVS Health by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,513,230 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $435,325,000 after buying an additional 616,785 shares during the period. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in CVS Health in the third quarter worth $34,379,000. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on CVS. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of CVS Health from $78.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Argus decreased their target price on CVS Health from $100.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group cut shares of CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $76.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of CVS Health from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.75.

CVS Health Stock Performance

CVS traded up $0.23 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $55.14. 1,671,366 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,769,315. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.09. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $53.70 and a 1-year high of $83.25.

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

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.82%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is currently 46.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Edward J. Ludwig bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $53.88 per share, for a total transaction of $53,880.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 21,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,165,424.40. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Edward J. Ludwig purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $53.88 per share, for a total transaction of $53,880.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 21,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,165,424.40. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 39,765 shares in the company, valued at $3,059,916.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company 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.