Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. Purchases Shares of 68,014 CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 68,014 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $5,370,000. CVS Health comprises approximately 4.9% of Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Palisade Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC now owns 7,118 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $562,000 after buying an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in CVS Health by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 22,506 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,777,000 after buying an additional 735 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in CVS Health by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,950,289 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $993,351,000 after acquiring an additional 232,464 shares during the period. Northern Financial Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Financial Advisors Inc now owns 16,738 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,322,000 after acquiring an additional 3,113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new position in CVS Health during the fourth quarter worth $214,000. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at CVS Health

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on CVS. TD Cowen downgraded CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of CVS Health from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. UBS Group downgraded shares of CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Mizuho cut their target price on CVS Health from $86.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded CVS Health from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $87.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.67.

CVS Health Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE CVS traded down $0.83 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $54.91. 13,372,108 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,889,823. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.81. CVS Health Co. has a 12-month low of $53.70 and a 12-month high of $83.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $71.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.09. The firm has a market cap of $68.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.56.

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

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd were paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.84%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 19th. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 46.75%.

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.