River Global Investors LLP Makes New $261,000 Investment in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

River Global Investors LLP acquired a new position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,308 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $261,000.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on 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. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price objective (down from $90.00) on shares of CVS Health in a report on Thursday. Leerink Partnrs cut shares of CVS Health from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. SVB Leerink reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $60.00 price target (down from $87.00) on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on CVS Health from $95.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Edward J. Ludwig acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $53.88 per share, with a total value of $53,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,630 shares in the company, valued at $1,165,424.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,059,916.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Edward J. Ludwig purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $53.88 per share, with a total value of $53,880.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 21,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,165,424.40. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CVS Health Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of CVS Health stock traded down $0.16 during trading on Monday, hitting $55.74. 9,684,943 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,726,009. CVS Health Co. has a 52-week low of $53.70 and a 52-week high of $83.25. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.29. The firm has a market cap of $69.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.38). The business had revenue of $88.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.33 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 13.53% and a net margin of 2.03%. CVS Health’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.20 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 19th. CVS Health’s payout ratio is currently 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.