CVS Health Corporation $CVS Position Lifted by Dodge & Cox

Key Points

• Dodge & Cox increased its holdings in CVS Health Corporation by 4.8% in Q1, making the stock its 5th largest position, with a total ownership of approximately $4.98 billion.
• CVS Health recently reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.81 for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, with revenues also surpassing forecasts at $98.92 billion.
• The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.665, with an annualized yield of 3.7% and a payout ratio of 74.3%.

Dodge & Cox lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) by 4.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 73,459,122 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after buying an additional 3,353,223 shares during the quarter. CVS Health comprises 2.8% of Dodge & Cox's portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Dodge & Cox owned approximately 5.81% of CVS Health worth $4,976,856,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whitebox Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of CVS Health during the fourth quarter valued at about $249,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in CVS Health by 503.8% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,896,341 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $128,477,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582,257 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in CVS Health by 25.0% in the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 648,266 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $43,920,000 after purchasing an additional 129,535 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in CVS Health by 2.1% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,981,262 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $608,481,000 after purchasing an additional 183,813 shares during the period. Finally, Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Can purchased a new stake in CVS Health in the fourth quarter worth about $121,742,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CVS shares. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (up previously from $76.00) on shares of CVS Health in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of CVS Health from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $71.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of CVS Health from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CVS Health currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $77.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at CVS Health

In other CVS Health news, Director Guy P. Sansone purchased 1,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $63.70 per share, for a total transaction of $100,009.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 12,007 shares of the company's stock, valued at $764,845.90. The trade was a 15.04% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CVS Health Stock Performance

CVS stock traded up $0.39 on Wednesday, hitting $71.94. The company had a trading volume of 3,586,186 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,739,502. CVS Health Corporation has a 12-month low of $43.56 and a 12-month high of $72.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $65.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.42. The stock has a market cap of $91.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.58.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) last issued 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. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.17% and a return on equity of 10.51%. The company had revenue of $98.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. CVS Health has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.300-6.400 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CVS Health Corporation will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 22nd. CVS Health's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.