CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Stock Position Lifted by Employees Retirement System of Texas

Employees Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) by 33.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 154,600 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after purchasing an additional 39,060 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas' holdings in CVS Health were worth $6,940,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CVS. Whitebox Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in CVS Health during the 4th quarter worth about $249,000. B&D White Capital Company LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CVS Health in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $417,000. Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Can purchased a new stake in shares of CVS Health in the fourth quarter valued at about $121,742,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in CVS Health by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,290,953 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $192,617,000 after purchasing an additional 293,406 shares during the period. Finally, Seizert Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 22.8% in the 4th quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 569,527 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $25,566,000 after buying an additional 105,708 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CVS Health news, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total transaction of $498,487.55. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,394 shares in the company, valued at $556,941.90. The trade was a 47.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CVS Health Trading Up 1.9%

CVS Health stock traded up $1.21 during trading on Friday, reaching $63.99. The company had a trading volume of 13,305,916 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,277,488. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.48, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $65.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.53. CVS Health Co. has a 12-month low of $43.56 and a 12-month high of $72.51.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 22nd. CVS Health's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CVS. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on CVS Health from 67.00 to 70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of CVS Health from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $55.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of CVS Health from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $74.94.

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.