Kestra Investment Management LLC Increases Stock Position in CVS Health Corporation $CVS

Key Points

• Kestra Investment Management LLC increased its stake in CVS Health by 76.7% in Q1, owning 12,023 shares worth $815,000.
• CVS Health reported earnings of $1.81 per share for the last quarter, beating analysts' expectations of $1.46, while revenues reached $98.92 billion.
• A quarterly dividend of $0.665 was recently paid, offering an annualized yield of 3.6%, with a payout ratio of 74.30%.

Kestra Investment Management LLC boosted its position in CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) by 76.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,023 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after buying an additional 5,217 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC's holdings in CVS Health were worth $815,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its stake in CVS Health by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 707 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Saudi Central Bank bought a new stake in CVS Health in the first quarter valued at $34,000. Costello Asset Management INC increased its stake in CVS Health by 281.3% in the first quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 572 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the first quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CVS shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of CVS Health from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of CVS Health from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of CVS Health from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Baird R W raised shares of CVS Health from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CVS Health presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.89.

CVS Health Stock Up 0.4%

CVS stock traded up $0.33 during trading on Friday, reaching $75.00. The stock had a trading volume of 6,400,711 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,903,319. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a market capitalization of $95.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.62. CVS Health Corporation has a one year low of $43.56 and a one year high of $75.55. The company's 50 day moving average is $67.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.30.

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

CVS Health Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CVS Health news, Director Anne A. Finucane sold 7,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.02, for a total value of $532,650.00. Following the transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.