Stephens Inc. AR Lowers Stock Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Stephens Inc. AR decreased its position in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 59.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,593 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 42,895 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $1,328,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 124.1% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 61,744 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,882,000 after buying an additional 34,198 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 61.9% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 14,853 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $934,000 after acquiring an additional 5,679 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the third quarter worth about $202,000. CX Institutional boosted its stake in CVS Health by 698.0% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 74,609 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $4,691,000 after purchasing an additional 65,259 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 23.5% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 250,891 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $15,776,000 after buying an additional 47,737 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on CVS. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded CVS Health from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $60.00 to $66.00 in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Leerink Partners lifted their price target on CVS Health from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on CVS Health from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.78.

CVS Health Stock Up 15.0 %

CVS stock opened at $63.23 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.61. CVS Health Co. has a 52 week low of $43.56 and a 52 week high of $80.75. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.30. CVS Health had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 1.36%. Equities analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.21%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 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.