CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Shares Purchased by Empire Financial Management Company LLC

Empire Financial Management Company LLC boosted its position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 10.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,241 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CVS. Ridgewood Investments LLC grew its position in shares of CVS Health by 255.7% in the fourth quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 626 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in CVS Health during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in CVS Health in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Financial Perspectives Inc increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 137.5% in the 4th quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 805 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 112.1% during the 4th quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. now owns 827 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 437 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Trading Up 0.4 %

CVS opened at $65.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.99, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $66.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.87. CVS Health Co. has a 12 month low of $43.56 and a 12 month high of $71.45.

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

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.04%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CVS. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of CVS Health from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Leerink Partners upgraded CVS Health from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Edward Jones upgraded CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total transaction of $498,487.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $556,941.90. This represents a 47.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Michael F. Mahoney bought 30,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,625,045.20. This represents a 320.65 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.22% of the company’s stock.

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.