Kovack Advisors Inc. Purchases 10,050 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 66.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 25,278 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,050 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $1,996,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 5,993 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 1,112 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 3,674 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 606 shares during the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its stake in CVS Health by 1.7% in the third quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 15,671 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 34.6% in the third quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,843 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $617,000 after purchasing an additional 2,272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in CVS Health by 78.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 15,305 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,069,000 after acquiring an additional 6,733 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 company’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,765 shares in the company, valued at $3,059,916.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $87.00 price target on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Leerink Partnrs reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on CVS Health from $83.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CVS Health presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.44.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of CVS Health stock traded down $0.15 on Friday, hitting $67.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,396,438 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,376,818. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.86. CVS Health Co. has a 1 year low of $64.41 and a 1 year high of $83.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $74.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.64. The company has a market capitalization 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.

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

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

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