CVS Health Corporation $CVS Stock Position Lifted by Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec

Key Points

• Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec increased its stake in CVS Health Corporation by 1.9% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 18,120 shares for a total of 992,585 shares valued at approximately $67.2 million.
• CVS Health reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings with $1.81 EPS and $98.92 billion in revenue, surpassing estimates and showing an 8.4% increase from the previous year.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets on CVS shares, with a consensus target price now set at $77.56 and a majority rating the stock as a "Buy."

Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec raised its stake in CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) by 1.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 992,585 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after acquiring an additional 18,120 shares during the quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec owned approximately 0.08% of CVS Health worth $67,248,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 4,632,530 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox increased its stake in CVS Health by 4.8% in the first quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 73,459,122 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $4,976,856,000 after purchasing an additional 3,353,223 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in CVS Health in the first quarter valued at $204,421,000. Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Can acquired a new position in CVS Health in the fourth quarter valued at $121,742,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 2,666,029 shares during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CVS Health Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE CVS traded up $0.07 on Friday, hitting $73.76. The company had a trading volume of 5,074,859 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,804,935. CVS Health Corporation has a 12-month low of $43.56 and a 12-month high of $74.53. The business has a 50 day moving average of $66.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.00. 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 $93.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.60, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.62.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.81 earnings per share 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 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 business earned $1.83 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. CVS Health has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.300-6.400 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CVS Health Corporation will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 22nd were given a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 22nd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. CVS Health's dividend payout ratio is presently 74.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CVS Health

In other news, Director Anne A. Finucane sold 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.02, for a total value of $532,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 22,156 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,573,519.12. This represents a 25.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CVS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Baird R W upgraded CVS Health from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded CVS Health from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on CVS Health from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Bernstein Bank lowered their price target on CVS Health from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on CVS Health from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $77.89.

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.