Novare Capital Management LLC Cuts Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Novare Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 94,232 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 2,151 shares during the period. Novare Capital Management LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $5,925,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CVS. 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 valued at $3,491,643,000 after purchasing an additional 3,232,172 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised 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 worth $3,024,334,000 after buying an additional 4,226,225 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 1.4% in the 1st 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 during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 132.9% in the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 12,936,388 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $764,023,000 after acquiring an additional 7,382,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 5.9% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,963,508 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $555,406,000 after acquiring an additional 389,166 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CVS traded up $0.57 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $67.20. The stock had a trading volume of 1,741,843 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,992,387. CVS Health Co. has a 1-year low of $52.77 and a 1-year high of $83.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.71, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.54. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.86.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $91.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.41 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 12.72% and a net margin of 1.98%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.21 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.96%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is presently 46.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on CVS. TD Cowen upgraded CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Barclays upgraded shares of CVS Health from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $63.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 price target on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on CVS Health from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on CVS Health from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CVS Health has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.26.

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.