Flputnam Investment Management Co. Trims Position in CVS Health Corporation $CVS

Key Points

• Flputnam Investment Management Co. reduced its stake in CVS Health Corporation by 34.5%, now holding 9,004 shares valued at $610,000.
• CVS Health reported earnings per share of $1.81, surpassing analyst expectations of $1.46, with revenues up 8.4% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.665 per share, representing an annual yield of 3.6%.

Flputnam Investment Management Co. decreased its position in shares of CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) by 34.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,004 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after selling 4,735 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.'s holdings in CVS Health were worth $610,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. 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 worth $8,017,223,000 after purchasing an additional 969,027 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 4.8% during the 1st 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. grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 13.2% during the 1st 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 during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake 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 worth $1,037,205,000 after purchasing an additional 1,942,886 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Anne A. Finucane sold 7,500 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director owned 22,156 shares in the company, valued at $1,573,519.12. The trade was a 25.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.22% of the company's stock.

CVS Health Price Performance

CVS stock traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $73.76. The stock had a trading volume of 5,074,859 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,804,935. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $66.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a market cap of $93.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.62. CVS Health Corporation has a 52-week low of $43.56 and a 52-week high of $74.53.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $98.92 billion for 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. CVS Health has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.300-6.400 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CVS Health Corporation will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 22nd were issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 22nd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. CVS Health's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CVS. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on CVS Health from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen upgraded CVS Health from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on CVS Health from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Bernstein Bank decreased their target price on CVS Health from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $78.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $77.89.

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.