Aviance Capital Partners LLC Buys New Position in CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,499 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock, valued at approximately $305,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whitebox Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in CVS Health in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $249,000. Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Can purchased a new stake in CVS Health during the fourth quarter worth approximately $121,742,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in CVS Health by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,290,953 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $192,617,000 after buying an additional 293,406 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its stake in CVS Health by 26.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,039,777 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $2,739,927,000 after buying an additional 12,819,148 shares during the period. Finally, Community Trust & Investment Co. grew its stake in CVS Health by 14.4% during the first quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. now owns 265,953 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $18,018,000 after buying an additional 33,457 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CVS has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of CVS Health from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of CVS Health from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $75.06.

CVS Health Stock Down 1.5%

CVS traded down $1.04 during trading on Monday, hitting $66.39. The company had a trading volume of 3,613,948 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,306,952. The company has a market cap of $83.98 billion, a PE ratio of 15.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a 50-day moving average of $65.11 and a 200-day moving average of $61.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.63. CVS Health Corporation has a 1-year low of $43.56 and a 1-year high of $72.51.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.63. The company had revenue of $94.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.07 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.39% and a return on equity of 10.59%. The firm's revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that CVS Health Corporation will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.01%. CVS Health's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.48%.

Insider Activity at CVS Health

In other news, Director Guy P. Sansone purchased 1,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $63.70 per share, for a total transaction of $100,009.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 12,007 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $764,845.90. The trade was a 15.04% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.22% of the company's stock.

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.