LS Investment Advisors LLC Sells 42,576 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

LS Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 83.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,716 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 42,576 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $548,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CVS. Garland Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 0.3% in the second quarter. Garland Capital Management Inc. now owns 60,810 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,591,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 7.2% during the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,397 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $151,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC now owns 46,637 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,754,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in CVS Health by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,268 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in CVS Health by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,458 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $447,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CVS has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of CVS Health from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $68.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. UBS Group boosted their price target on CVS Health from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Truist Financial raised their price objective on CVS Health from $66.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CVS Health presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.00.

CVS Health Trading Down 7.3 %

Shares of CVS stock opened at $57.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $71.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.49, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.23. CVS Health Co. has a fifty-two week low of $52.77 and a fifty-two week high of $83.25.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.01. CVS Health had a return on equity of 12.72% and a net margin of 1.98%. The firm had revenue of $95.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.21 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 6.27 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. CVS Health’s payout ratio is presently 67.51%.

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.