Merit Financial Group LLC Grows Stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) by 157.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 42,653 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after acquiring an additional 26,084 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in CVS Health were worth $2,890,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of CVS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of CVS Health in the fourth quarter worth $839,574,000. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of CVS Health by 26.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,039,777 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $2,739,927,000 after acquiring an additional 12,819,148 shares during the period. Davis Selected Advisers raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 2,998.1% during the fourth quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 11,385,950 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $511,115,000 after acquiring an additional 11,018,438 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 70,105,899 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $3,147,054,000 after purchasing an additional 7,075,209 shares during the period. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 49.3% in the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 19,610,579 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $880,319,000 after purchasing an additional 6,475,271 shares during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded CVS Health from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded CVS Health from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on CVS Health from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on CVS Health from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on CVS Health from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $74.75.

CVS Health Stock Down 0.8%

CVS stock traded down $0.52 on Thursday, reaching $63.05. 6,599,235 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,115,333. CVS Health Co. has a one year low of $43.56 and a one year high of $72.51. 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 company has a market cap of $79.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.79.

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

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd were issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.22%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 22nd. CVS Health's payout ratio is 63.48%.

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.