CVS Health Corporation $CVS Shares Sold by Ethic Inc.

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. reduced its stake in CVS Health Corporation by 32.6% during the first quarter, leaving it with 33,046 shares valued at approximately $2.25 million.
• Insider activity was noted as Director Guy P. Sansone purchased 1,570 shares at an average price of $63.70, increasing his total holdings to 12,007 shares.
• CVS Health recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.81, exceeding analysts' estimates, with total revenue of $98.92 billion for the quarter.

Ethic Inc. reduced its position in shares of CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) by 32.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,046 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after selling 15,951 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in CVS Health were worth $2,246,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 20,705 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $1,403,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 33.7% in the first quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 682 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 32.6% during the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 707 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 1.0% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 17,114 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $1,159,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in CVS Health by 3.7% during the first quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,930 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.66% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (up from $76.00) on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of CVS Health from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target 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. 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, UBS Group raised CVS Health from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $79.00 in a research report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CVS Health has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $76.67.

Insider Activity at CVS Health

In related news, Director Guy P. Sansone purchased 1,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $63.70 per share, with a total value of $100,009.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 12,007 shares of the company's stock, valued at $764,845.90. This represents a 15.04% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CVS traded down $0.2560 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $71.1740. 4,009,982 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,815,739. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $65.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.01. CVS Health Corporation has a 12 month low of $43.56 and a 12 month high of $72.51. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $90.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.58.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $98.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.87 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 10.51% and a net margin of 1.17%.The business's revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. CVS Health has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.300-6.400 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that CVS Health Corporation will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 22nd were given a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 22nd. CVS Health's dividend payout ratio is presently 74.30%.

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.