CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS) Shares Acquired by Vanguard Group Inc.

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. has increased its stake in CVS Health Corporation by 0.8%, owning approximately 9.39% of the company, valued at over $8 billion.
• Multiple analysts have upgraded their price targets for CVS Health, with Truist Financial raising its target to $84.00, reflecting a predominantly positive outlook on the stock.
• CVS Health reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.81, beating expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.665 per share with a yield of 4.2%.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) by 0.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 118,335,394 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after purchasing an additional 969,027 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.39% of CVS Health worth $8,017,223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CVS. Capital World Investors boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 12,819,148 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 70,105,899 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $3,147,054,000 after buying an additional 7,075,209 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 4,632,530 shares in the last quarter. Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Can purchased a new stake in shares of CVS Health in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $121,742,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CVS. Truist Financial lifted their price target on CVS Health from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on CVS Health from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on CVS Health from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on CVS Health from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $75.11.

CVS Health Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE CVS opened at $63.55 on Thursday. CVS Health Corporation has a 12 month low of $43.56 and a 12 month high of $72.51. The company has a 50-day moving average of $64.63 and a 200-day moving average of $64.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company has a market cap of $80.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.58.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $98.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that CVS Health Corporation will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 22nd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. CVS Health's dividend payout ratio is currently 74.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Guy P. Sansone purchased 1,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $63.70 per share, for a total transaction of $100,009.00. Following the completion of 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 purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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