AlphaQuest LLC Sells 22,156 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

AlphaQuest LLC reduced its stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 76.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,963 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 22,156 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Versor Investments LP bought a new position in shares of CVS Health during the third quarter worth $371,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in CVS Health during the 3rd quarter worth $816,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in CVS Health by 7.7% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,078 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $759,000 after acquiring an additional 865 shares during the period. MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of CVS Health in the third quarter worth about $237,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 5.6% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 99,848 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $6,278,000 after purchasing an additional 5,325 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research increased their target price on CVS Health from 67.00 to 70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. TD Cowen increased their target price on CVS Health from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on CVS Health from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total value of $498,487.55. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $556,941.90. The trade was a 47.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Michael F. Mahoney purchased 30,000 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $66.70 per share, for a total transaction of $2,001,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,625,045.20. This represents a 320.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CVS opened at $65.63 on Friday. CVS Health Co. has a 12 month low of $43.56 and a 12 month high of $80.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $58.47 and a 200-day moving average of $57.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $82.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.53.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.30. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.24% and a return on equity of 9.11%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.05%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.68%.

CVS Health Company 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.