Sentry Investment Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Sentry Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 17.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,181 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 1,266 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $365,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,696,285 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $9,293,299,000 after purchasing an additional 533,659 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 43,776,874 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,491,643,000 after buying an additional 3,232,172 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in CVS Health by 12.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,917,923 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,024,334,000 after buying an additional 4,226,225 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in CVS Health during the fourth quarter valued at $1,092,040,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 1.4% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,143,822 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,048,351,000 after acquiring an additional 184,297 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CVS Health Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of CVS stock opened at $56.11 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.34. The stock has a market cap of $70.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.54. CVS Health Co. has a 12 month low of $52.77 and a 12 month high of $83.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.10. CVS Health had a return on equity of 12.72% and a net margin of 1.98%. The business had revenue of $91.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $91.41 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.21 earnings per share. CVS Health’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 22nd were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 22nd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.74%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 46.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CVS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on CVS Health from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of CVS Health from $101.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Baird R W upgraded shares of CVS Health to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on CVS Health from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Eleven 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.48.

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.