Hennessy Advisors Inc. Grows Stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 66.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 104,000 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 41,500 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $7,046,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC increased its position in shares of CVS Health by 49.9% during the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 4,836 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $217,000 after acquiring an additional 1,610 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of CVS Health by 24.8% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 644,326 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $28,924,000 after acquiring an additional 128,231 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of CVS Health by 112.1% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the fourth quarter worth about $248,000. 80.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CVS shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on CVS Health from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Mizuho lifted their target price on CVS Health from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group lifted their target price on CVS Health from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Argus set a $77.00 price target on CVS Health in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.75.

CVS Health Trading Up 1.6%

NYSE CVS opened at $67.42 on Friday. CVS Health Co. has a twelve month low of $43.56 and a twelve month high of $72.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market cap of $85.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.42, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $65.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.15.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.63. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.24% and a return on equity of 9.11%. The business had revenue of $94.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. CVS Health’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 22nd were paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 22nd. CVS Health’s payout ratio is presently 63.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Guy P. Sansone acquired 1,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $63.70 per share, with a total value of $100,009.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $764,845.90. This represents a 15.04% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.22% 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.