Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Sells 408,843 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec trimmed its holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) by 37.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 673,302 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after selling 408,843 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned approximately 0.05% of CVS Health worth $30,225,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ridgewood Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 255.7% in the fourth quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 626 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of CVS Health in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in CVS Health during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Financial Perspectives Inc lifted its position in shares of CVS Health by 137.5% during the 4th quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 805 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in CVS Health during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CVS Health Stock Down 1.2 %

CVS stock traded down $0.79 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $66.32. 6,984,481 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,466,938. CVS Health Co. has a 12 month low of $43.56 and a 12 month high of $72.51. The company has a market cap of $83.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.12, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm's 50-day moving average is $66.79 and its 200-day moving average is $58.81.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.63. The company had revenue of $94.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.07 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 9.11% and a net margin of 1.24%. The business's revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd were paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 22nd. CVS Health's dividend payout ratio is 63.48%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael F. Mahoney bought 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $66.70 per share, with a total value of $2,001,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares in the company, valued at $2,625,045.20. This represents a 320.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.22% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CVS. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of CVS Health from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of CVS Health from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of CVS Health in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays boosted their price objective on CVS Health from $73.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of CVS Health from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $74.81.

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.