Empower Advisory Group LLC Reduces Stake in CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS)

Key Points

• Empower Advisory Group LLC reduced its stake in CVS Health by 66.7% during the 1st quarter, owning only 6,490 shares valued at approximately $440,000 after selling 13,026 shares.
• Despite the reduction from Empower Advisory, other investors like McIlrath & Eck LLC and Costello Asset Management INC have increased their stakes, highlighting ongoing institutional interest in CVS Health.
• CVS recently reported a quarterly EPS of $1.81, exceeding analyst expectations, with revenue reaching $98.92 billion, marking an 8.4% increase from the previous year.

Empower Advisory Group LLC reduced its stake in CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) by 66.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,490 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after selling 13,026 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC's holdings in CVS Health were worth $440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its holdings in CVS Health by 32.6% in the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 707 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC grew its holdings in CVS Health by 281.3% in the 1st quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 572 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in CVS Health in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in CVS Health by 39.4% in the 1st quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 637 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its holdings in CVS Health by 77.2% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 1,024 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CVS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on CVS Health from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Truist Financial upped 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. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on CVS Health from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $84.00 price target (up previously from $76.00) on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on CVS Health from $51.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $75.11.

CVS Health Trading Up 0.2%

CVS opened at $63.55 on Thursday. CVS Health Corporation has a one year low of $43.56 and a one year high of $72.51. The company has a market cap of $80.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.75, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.58. 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 business's 50-day simple moving average is $64.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.07.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $98.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.87 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 10.51% and a net margin of 1.17%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.83 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CVS Health Corporation will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 22nd. CVS Health's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.30%.

Insider Transactions at CVS Health

In other news, Director Guy P. Sansone purchased 1,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were purchased 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. This represents a 15.04% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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