IFM Investors Pty Ltd Acquires 21,480 Shares of CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its stake in shares of CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) by 9.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 249,570 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after buying an additional 21,480 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in CVS Health were worth $15,693,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dodge & Cox raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 70,105,899 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $3,147,054,000 after purchasing an additional 7,075,209 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 26.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,039,777 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $2,739,927,000 after purchasing an additional 12,819,148 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in CVS Health by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,051,540 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $1,211,582,000 after acquiring an additional 689,867 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in CVS Health by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 26,666,401 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $1,196,989,000 after acquiring an additional 1,212,126 shares during the period. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in CVS Health by 49.3% in the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 19,610,579 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $880,319,000 after acquiring an additional 6,475,271 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on CVS Health from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Mizuho lifted their price target on CVS Health from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays set a $79.00 price target on CVS Health and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of CVS Health from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $75.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 acquired at an average price of $63.70 per share, for a total transaction of $100,009.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 12,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $764,845.90. The trade was a 15.04% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.22% of the company's stock.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of CVS traded down $0.75 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $66.68. The stock had a trading volume of 6,418,905 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,833,454. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.57. CVS Health Corporation has a 52 week low of $43.56 and a 52 week high of $72.51. The company's fifty day moving average is $65.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.86.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.63. The business had revenue of $94.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.07 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 10.59% and a net margin of 1.39%. CVS Health's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that CVS Health Corporation will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.99%. CVS Health's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.48%.

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.