Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC lowered its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 13.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,672 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 550 shares during the period. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of CVS Health in the fourth quarter worth $1,092,040,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 29.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 27,487,238 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,919,159,000 after buying an additional 6,194,441 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 306.6% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,046,216 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $240,529,000 after buying an additional 2,297,100 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 8,697.2% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,322,129 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $104,395,000 after buying an additional 1,307,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 95.1% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 1,762,629 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $139,177,000 after purchasing an additional 859,134 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CVS Health news, Director Edward J. Ludwig bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $53.88 per share, for a total transaction of $53,880.00. Following the purchase, 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 hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CVS Health Trading Down 0.4 %

CVS traded down $0.22 during trading on Thursday, hitting $57.22. 8,646,539 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,909,874. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.13. The firm has a market cap of $71.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.56. CVS Health Co. has a 1 year low of $53.70 and a 1 year high of $83.25. 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 (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.38). CVS Health had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.53%. The company had revenue of $88.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 7.02 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd were issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.65%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CVS shares. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of CVS Health from $95.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Barclays lowered their target price on CVS Health from $78.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald cut CVS Health from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $87.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Argus cut their target price on CVS Health from $100.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on CVS Health from $76.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CVS Health currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.75.

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.