FourThought Financial Partners LLC Boosts Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

FourThought Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,546 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 599 shares during the period. FourThought Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $517,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,162,626 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $8,180,295,000 after acquiring an additional 485,744 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in CVS Health by 29.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 27,487,238 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,919,159,000 after purchasing an additional 6,194,441 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of CVS Health by 2.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,214,296 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $992,442,000 after buying an additional 305,564 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 2.2% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,136,920 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $987,041,000 after buying an additional 303,512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,717,825 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $864,821,000 after buying an additional 324,391 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CVS has been the subject of several research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded CVS Health from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $87.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of CVS Health from $83.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Leerink Partnrs cut CVS Health from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on CVS Health from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.35.

Insider Activity at CVS Health

In other news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total value of $2,267,947.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 39,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,059,916.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total transaction of $2,267,947.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,765 shares in the company, valued at $3,059,916.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Edward J. Ludwig acquired 1,000 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $53.88 per share, with a total value of $53,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,165,424.40. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CVS Health Stock Performance

NYSE CVS traded up $0.75 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $55.90. The company had a trading volume of 23,946,075 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,498,538. The business has a 50 day moving average of $72.77 and a 200-day moving average of $73.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.81. CVS Health Co. has a 1-year low of $53.70 and a 1-year high of $83.25. The company has a market cap of $70.18 billion, a PE ratio of 9.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.56.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.38). The firm had revenue of $88.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.33 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 13.53% and a net margin of 2.03%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.20 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 7.03 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.76%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.75%.

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.