Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 53,553 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. trimmed its holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,027,821 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 53,553 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $160,117,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in CVS Health by 74.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 43,213 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,017,000 after buying an additional 18,385 shares during the last quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. raised its holdings in CVS Health by 26.5% during the 3rd quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 991,601 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $69,261,000 after buying an additional 207,702 shares during the last quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC raised its holdings in CVS Health by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC now owns 50,488 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,525,000 after buying an additional 774 shares during the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its holdings in CVS Health by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 10,405 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $726,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC raised its holdings in CVS Health by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 19,355 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,351,000 after buying an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at CVS Health

In other news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,059,916.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Stock Down 0.2 %

CVS stock traded down $0.15 during trading on Friday, hitting $67.18. 6,396,438 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,376,818. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market cap of $84.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.52. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $74.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.64. CVS Health Co. has a 1 year low of $64.41 and a 1 year high of $83.25.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $93.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.58 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.99 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 8.31 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on CVS. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of CVS Health from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. StockNews.com lowered shares of CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of CVS Health in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $78.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of CVS Health from $83.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.44.

About CVS Health

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.