CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Shares Sold by Scharf Investments LLC

Scharf Investments LLC lowered its position in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 46.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,023,061 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 882,094 shares during the quarter. CVS Health accounts for approximately 1.4% of Scharf Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Scharf Investments LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $45,925,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CVS. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 11,897,034 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $748,085,000 after purchasing an additional 3,071,613 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,527,909 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,554,475,000 after acquiring an additional 1,989,066 shares in the last quarter. TOMS Capital Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health in the 3rd quarter worth $121,987,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 5,864.2% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,730,343 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $108,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,701,331 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 1,470.2% during the third quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 1,396,464 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $87,810,000 after purchasing an additional 1,307,531 shares during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays cut their price objective on CVS Health from $75.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of CVS Health from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of CVS Health from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $66.00 in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Edward Jones raised CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.12.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CVS opened at $56.53 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.17. CVS Health Co. has a 52 week low of $43.56 and a 52 week high of $80.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $71.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.59.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $95.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.72 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 5.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be given a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.71%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 23rd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.