Financial Counselors Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Financial Counselors Inc. increased its position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 0.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 90,846 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after buying an additional 221 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $5,712,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of CVS Health by 1.6% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 7,049,945 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $443,301,000 after purchasing an additional 107,977 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 327,080 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $20,567,000 after buying an additional 7,200 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co grew its position in shares of CVS Health by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 108,151 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $6,801,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in CVS Health by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 261,194 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $16,424,000 after acquiring an additional 9,418 shares during the period. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in CVS Health during the third quarter worth about $40,000. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CVS. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on CVS Health from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of CVS Health from $75.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of CVS Health from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $66.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of CVS Health from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.33.

CVS Health Stock Performance

NYSE:CVS opened at $59.96 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.80. CVS Health Co. has a 52-week low of $52.71 and a 52-week high of $83.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.45 billion, a PE ratio of 15.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.55.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $95.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.72 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.21 EPS. Analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 5.37 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st were issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.51%.

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.