Amundi Buys 1,165,992 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Amundi boosted its stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 19.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,059,915 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,165,992 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned 0.56% of CVS Health worth $324,246,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CVS. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in CVS Health in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC lifted its position in CVS Health by 255.7% in the 4th quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 626 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in CVS Health in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in CVS Health in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Financial Perspectives Inc lifted its position in CVS Health by 137.5% during the 4th quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 805 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on CVS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Leerink Partners raised shares of CVS Health from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of CVS Health from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their price target on shares of CVS Health from 67.00 to 70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CVS Health has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.83.

CVS Health Stock Up 1.7 %

CVS Health stock opened at $66.34 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $83.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. CVS Health Co. has a twelve month low of $43.56 and a twelve month high of $80.75. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $56.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.75.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.30. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.24% and a return on equity of 9.11%. As a group, analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.01%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.68%.

Insider Transactions at CVS Health

In other news, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total transaction of $498,487.55. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $556,941.90. This trade represents a 47.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael F. Mahoney bought 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $66.70 per share, for a total transaction of $2,001,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,625,045.20. This trade represents a 320.65 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.