Essex LLC Acquires 4,787 Shares of CVS Health Corporation $CVS

Key Points

• Essex LLC increased its holdings in CVS Health Corporation by 106.5% during the 2nd quarter, acquiring an additional 4,787 shares, bringing its total to 9,281 shares valued at $640,000.
• A number of institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Dodge & Cox, have also recently increased their stakes in CVS Health, contributing to a total institutional ownership of 80.66%.
• Analysts have generally upgraded CVS Health's outlook, with Goldman Sachs setting a price target of $91.00 and many others providing "buy" ratings, suggesting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

Essex LLC raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) by 106.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,281 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after acquiring an additional 4,787 shares during the quarter. Essex LLC's holdings in CVS Health were worth $640,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CVS. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 118,335,394 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $8,017,223,000 after acquiring an additional 969,027 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox boosted its position in shares of CVS Health by 4.8% in the first quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 73,459,122 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $4,976,856,000 after purchasing an additional 3,353,223 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 13.2% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 20,413,853 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $1,383,039,000 after purchasing an additional 2,375,764 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 15,309,289 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $1,037,205,000 after purchasing an additional 1,942,886 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,647,873 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $924,643,000 after buying an additional 728,924 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CVS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $91.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on CVS Health from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on CVS Health from $82.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Bernstein Bank dropped their price target on CVS Health from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of CVS Health from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $71.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.05.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of CVS Health stock opened at $79.67 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $101.05 billion, a PE ratio of 22.25, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $72.95 and a 200 day moving average of $67.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. CVS Health Corporation has a 12 month low of $43.56 and a 12 month high of $79.94.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 10.51% and a net margin of 1.17%.The business had revenue of $98.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. The company'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. On average, research analysts expect that CVS Health Corporation will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 23rd will be issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 23rd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. CVS Health's payout ratio is 74.30%.

Insider Activity

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 stock was sold at an average price of $71.02, for a total transaction of $532,650.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 22,156 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,573,519.12. The trade was a 25.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.22% of the company's stock.

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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