Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. Takes Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 3,421 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $270,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 0.4% during the third 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 during the period. FMR LLC raised its position 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 valued at $1,919,159,000 after buying an additional 6,194,441 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,214,296 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $992,442,000 after buying an additional 305,564 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 2.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 303,512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in CVS Health by 2.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 324,391 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CVS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $87.00 price objective on shares of CVS Health in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on CVS Health from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. StockNews.com lowered CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on CVS Health in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $78.00 price objective on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CVS Health currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.44.

CVS Health Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of CVS traded down $0.58 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $67.92. The stock had a trading volume of 4,044,409 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,669,728. The firm has a market cap of $85.61 billion, a PE ratio of 10.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.52. CVS Health Co. has a 1 year low of $64.41 and a 1 year high of $83.25. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $74.97 and its 200 day moving average is $73.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.63.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.11. CVS Health had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The company had revenue of $93.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.99 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 8.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 39,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,059,916.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CVS Health 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.