HTLF Bank Purchases Shares of 4,467 CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

HTLF Bank acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 4,467 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $353,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Weik Capital Management boosted its position in CVS Health by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Weik Capital Management now owns 17,600 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,781,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. FCA Corp TX grew its stake in CVS Health by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. FCA Corp TX now owns 20,109 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,035,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Arvest Trust Co. N A boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Arvest Trust Co. N A now owns 11,157 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,040,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 2,859 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apella Capital LLC raised its holdings in CVS Health by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 3,378 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at CVS Health

In other news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total transaction of $2,267,947.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,059,916.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on CVS. SVB Leerink began coverage on shares of CVS Health in a report on Monday, February 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $88.00 price objective for the company. HSBC began coverage on CVS Health in a report on Friday, December 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of CVS Health in a report on Monday, February 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $87.00 price target on shares of CVS Health in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $83.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.44.

CVS Health Stock Up 1.5 %

CVS Health stock opened at $69.75 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $75.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.70. The stock has a market cap of $87.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.80, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.52. CVS Health Co. has a 52 week low of $64.41 and a 52 week high of $83.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.11. CVS Health had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 2.33%. The business had revenue of $93.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.99 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 8.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 41.18%.

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.