Bard Financial Services Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in CVS Health Corporation $CVS

Key Points

• Bard Financial Services Inc. reduced its stock holdings in CVS Health Corporation by 6.7%, bringing their total shares to 116,478 and making it the firm's 29th largest holding.
• Several hedge funds increased their positions in CVS, with Goldman Sachs growing its holdings by 87.5% in the first quarter, now owning approximately 9.93 million shares valued at $672 million.
• Research analysts have various ratings and price targets for CVS, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target averaging around $77.89.

Bard Financial Services Inc. lowered its position in CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) by 6.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 116,478 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after selling 8,350 shares during the quarter. CVS Health comprises about 1.0% of Bard Financial Services Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Bard Financial Services Inc.'s holdings in CVS Health were worth $8,035,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CVS. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 87.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,927,650 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $672,598,000 after purchasing an additional 4,632,530 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox grew its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 4.8% in the first quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 73,459,122 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $4,976,856,000 after purchasing an additional 3,353,223 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in CVS Health in the first quarter valued at about $204,421,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in CVS Health by 310.8% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,523,824 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $238,739,000 after buying an additional 2,666,029 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in CVS Health by 13.2% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 20,413,853 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $1,383,039,000 after buying an additional 2,375,764 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on CVS shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $78.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Zacks Research cut shares of CVS Health from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of CVS Health from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of CVS Health from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the company from $71.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of CVS Health from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $67.00 to $79.00 in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CVS Health has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $77.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at CVS Health

In related news, Director Anne A. Finucane sold 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.02, for a total transaction of $532,650.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 22,156 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,573,519.12. This represents a 25.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.22% of the company's stock.

CVS Health Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of CVS opened at $75.00 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.12 billion, a PE ratio of 20.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.62. CVS Health Corporation has a 1 year low of $43.56 and a 1 year high of $75.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $67.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.33.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.35. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.17% and a return on equity of 10.51%. The firm had revenue of $98.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. CVS Health has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.300-6.400 EPS. Analysts forecast that CVS Health Corporation will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 22nd. CVS Health's dividend payout ratio is presently 74.30%.

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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