CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Shares Bought by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 0.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,699,034 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after buying an additional 13,268 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $853,356,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 6.6% during the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 174,398 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $13,910,000 after purchasing an additional 10,871 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,963,508 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $555,406,000 after buying an additional 389,166 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health during the first quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 8.8% in the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 2,150,505 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $171,524,000 after acquiring an additional 174,015 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the first quarter worth approximately $1,203,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of CVS Health from $86.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. UBS Group cut shares of CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of CVS Health from $78.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Leerink Partnrs cut CVS Health from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, SVB Leerink reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective (down previously from $87.00) on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at CVS Health

In related news, Director Edward J. Ludwig acquired 1,000 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $53.88 per share, for a total transaction of $53,880.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 21,630 shares in the company, valued at $1,165,424.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CVS Health Trading Up 4.0 %

Shares of CVS traded up $2.35 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $61.00. 14,553,173 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,959,074. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $76.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.52. CVS Health Co. has a 52-week low of $52.77 and a 52-week high of $83.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.38.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.38). The firm had revenue of $88.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.33 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.53%. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.20 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 22nd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.36%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.