ABC Arbitrage SA Has $234,000 Stock Position in CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS)

Key Points

• ABC Arbitrage SA significantly reduced its stake in CVS Health by 87.0%, ending the quarter with only 3,447 shares valued at $234,000.
• CVS Health's recent earnings report showed a quarterly EPS of $1.81, surpassing estimates, with revenue of $98.92 billion, an increase of 8.4% year-over-year.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.665 per share, representing an annualized yield of 4.2%, with a payout ratio of 74.30%.

ABC Arbitrage SA lowered its position in shares of CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) by 87.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,447 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after selling 23,076 shares during the quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA's holdings in CVS Health were worth $234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in CVS Health by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,529,714 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $68,669,000 after acquiring an additional 15,561 shares during the last quarter. Polymer Capital Management US LLC bought a new stake in CVS Health during the 4th quarter worth about $207,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in CVS Health by 30.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 18,038,089 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $809,730,000 after acquiring an additional 4,173,243 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd lifted its position in CVS Health by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 141,616 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $6,357,000 after purchasing an additional 7,143 shares during the period. Finally, Greenland Capital Management LP acquired a new position in CVS Health during the 4th quarter valued at about $253,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CVS shares. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of CVS Health from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on CVS Health from $51.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $84.00 target price (up from $76.00) on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group lowered their target price on CVS Health from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on CVS Health from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $75.11.

CVS Health Stock Performance

CVS opened at $63.40 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.07. The company has a market capitalization of $80.41 billion, a PE ratio of 17.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.58. CVS Health Corporation has a 1 year low of $43.56 and a 1 year high of $72.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $98.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.87 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 10.51% and a net margin of 1.17%. CVS Health's quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. Research analysts expect that CVS Health Corporation will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 22nd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. CVS Health's payout ratio is 74.30%.

Insider Activity at CVS Health

In other CVS Health news, Director Guy P. Sansone acquired 1,570 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $63.70 per share, with a total value of $100,009.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 12,007 shares of the company's stock, valued at $764,845.90. This represents a 15.04% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.22% of the company's stock.

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.

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