Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. trimmed its position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 52.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 26,425 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 29,471 shares during the period. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $1,186,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 28.7% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 46,938 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,951,000 after buying an additional 10,465 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in CVS Health by 4.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,434,476 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $90,200,000 after purchasing an additional 66,244 shares in the last quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in CVS Health by 8.4% in the third quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 134,523 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $8,459,000 after purchasing an additional 10,453 shares in the last quarter. Hall Laurie J Trustee raised its stake in CVS Health by 25,484.4% in the fourth quarter. Hall Laurie J Trustee now owns 11,513 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $517,000 after purchasing an additional 11,468 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B&D White Capital Company LLC purchased a new stake in CVS Health in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $417,000. 80.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CVS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of CVS Health from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Leerink Partners raised shares of CVS Health from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.39.

Insider Transactions at CVS Health

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

CVS Health Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of CVS Health stock opened at $67.22 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.34. The company has a market cap of $84.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.37, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. CVS Health Co. has a 12-month low of $43.56 and a 12-month high of $80.75.

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

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.68%.

CVS Health Company 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.