National Bank of Canada FI Boosts Stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 37.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,682,572 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after buying an additional 729,192 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.21% of CVS Health worth $118,892,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in CVS Health by 3.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,527,909 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,554,475,000 after purchasing an additional 1,989,066 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in CVS Health by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,361,673 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,651,997,000 after buying an additional 461,569 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in CVS Health by 49.3% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 19,610,579 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $880,319,000 after buying an additional 6,475,271 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in CVS Health during the fourth quarter valued at $839,574,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,918,949 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $579,932,000 after acquiring an additional 710,281 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CVS Health Stock Performance

CVS opened at $67.79 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $62.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.46 billion, a PE ratio of 18.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. CVS Health Co. has a 12-month low of $43.56 and a 12-month high of $79.98.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.92%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CVS shares. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on CVS Health from $60.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Leerink Partners raised CVS Health from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded CVS Health from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of CVS Health from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CVS Health presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.39.

Insider Buying and Selling at CVS Health

In related news, Director Michael F. Mahoney acquired 30,000 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $66.70 per share, for a total transaction of $2,001,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 39,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,625,045.20. The trade was a 320.65 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total transaction of $498,487.55. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $556,941.90. This trade 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 corporate insiders.

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.