CVS Health Corporation $CVS Shares Bought by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Key Points

• Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in CVS Health by 3.5%, owning approximately 1,489,965 shares valued at $100.9 million after acquiring an additional 50,968 shares.
• CVS Health reported a net income of $1.81 per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, with a revenue of $98.92 billion, an 8.4% year-over-year increase.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.665 per share, equating to an annual yield of 3.6%, with a payout ratio of 74.3%.

Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) by 3.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,489,965 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after acquiring an additional 50,968 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.12% of CVS Health worth $100,945,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in CVS Health by 503.8% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,896,341 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $128,477,000 after acquiring an additional 1,582,257 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in CVS Health by 25.0% during the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 648,266 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $43,920,000 after acquiring an additional 129,535 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $608,481,000 after buying an additional 183,813 shares during the last quarter. Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Can acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $121,742,000. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 20.1% in the first quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 3,421,519 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $231,808,000 after buying an additional 572,533 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company's stock.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of CVS stock opened at $73.76 on Friday. CVS Health Corporation has a one year low of $43.56 and a one year high of $74.53. 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $66.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.62.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. CVS Health's revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. CVS Health has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.300-6.400 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CVS Health Corporation will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 22nd. CVS Health's payout ratio is currently 74.30%.

Insider Transactions at CVS Health

In other CVS Health news, Director Anne A. Finucane sold 7,500 shares of the business'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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 22,156 shares in the company, valued at $1,573,519.12. The trade was a 25.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CVS. Robert W. Baird raised shares of CVS Health from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $71.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Bernstein Bank cut their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $78.00 price objective on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of CVS Health from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $77.89.

About CVS Health

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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