Handelsbanken Fonder AB Raises Stock Holdings in CVS Health Corporation $CVS

Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in shares of CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS) by 83.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,089,694 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 496,124 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $112,729,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in CVS Health by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 120,709,530 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $9,579,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,824,424 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in CVS Health by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,183,743 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $4,776,182,000 after purchasing an additional 1,245,457 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its position in CVS Health by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,592,356 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,189,793,000 after purchasing an additional 900,153 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of CVS Health during the 4th quarter valued at $1,666,265,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 20,373,774 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,616,863,000 after buying an additional 1,211,631 shares during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Larry Robbins sold 370,462 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.45, for a total transaction of $34,619,673.90. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,824,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $450,877,466.55. This represents a 7.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,372,000 shares of company stock worth $317,473,598. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CVS opened at $95.67 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $122.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.61. CVS Health Corporation has a 52-week low of $64.32 and a 52-week high of $110.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $102.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.91.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.71. The business had revenue of $106.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $100.03 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.18% and a return on equity of 13.12%. The business’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.81 EPS. CVS Health has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.900-8.100 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that CVS Health Corporation will post 8.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 23rd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on CVS. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $113.00 price objective on shares of CVS Health in a report on Monday, June 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on CVS Health from $103.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. TD Cowen raised their target price on CVS Health from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on CVS Health from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on CVS Health from $107.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Twenty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.46.

CVS Health Profile

CVS Health Corporation is a diversified healthcare company that operates a large network of retail pharmacies, pharmacy benefit management services and health care solutions. Headquartered in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, the company traces its roots to the early 1960s and has grown into an integrated provider of prescription drugs, over‑the‑counter products, clinical services and health insurance offerings. Its operating model combines retail pharmacy locations and in‑store clinics with broader pharmacy and health plan capabilities.

Key business activities include CVS Pharmacy retail operations, MinuteClinic walk‑in medical clinics and HealthHUB locations that offer expanded clinical services.