Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC Lowers Stock Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC lessened its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 13.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,672 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 550 shares during the quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $290,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CVS. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health in the 4th quarter valued at $1,092,040,000. FMR LLC raised its stake 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 worth $1,919,159,000 after buying an additional 6,194,441 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in CVS Health by 306.6% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,046,216 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $240,529,000 after purchasing an additional 2,297,100 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake 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 last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 95.1% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 1,762,629 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $139,177,000 after acquiring an additional 859,134 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CVS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen cut CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $99.00 to $59.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on CVS Health from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Argus reduced their target price on CVS Health from $100.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on CVS Health from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on CVS Health from $78.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $76.75.

CVS Health Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of CVS Health stock traded down $0.22 during trading on Thursday, hitting $57.22. 8,646,539 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,909,874. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $67.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.13. CVS Health Co. has a twelve month low of $53.70 and a twelve month high of $83.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market cap of $71.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.04, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.56.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.31 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $88.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 7.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd were issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.65%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CVS Health news, Director Edward J. Ludwig purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $53.88 per share, with a total value of $53,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,165,424.40. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.