Wellington Shields & Co. LLC Trims Stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Wellington Shields & Co. LLC reduced its position in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 20.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,747 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 5,959 shares during the quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $1,021,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CVS. Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of CVS Health in the 3rd quarter valued at $371,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of CVS Health in the 3rd quarter valued at $816,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 7.7% in the 3rd 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 purchased a new position in shares of CVS Health in the 3rd quarter valued at $237,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 99,848 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $6,278,000 after acquiring an additional 5,325 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of CVS stock opened at $65.63 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $82.75 billion, a PE ratio of 17.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. CVS Health Co. has a 52-week low of $43.56 and a 52-week high of $80.75.

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

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.05%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.68%.

Insider Activity at CVS Health

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CVS shares. Piper Sandler cut their price target on CVS Health from $72.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on CVS Health from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com raised CVS Health from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on CVS Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.83.

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.