Invesco Ltd. Has $1.38 Billion Position in CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS)

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in CVS Health Corporation by 13.2% in the first quarter, owning about 20.4 million shares valued at $1.38 billion.
• Multiple hedge funds and institutional investors, including Jennison Associates and Whitebox Advisors, have significantly increased their stakes in CVS Health, contributing to over 80.66% of the company's stock being held by such investors.
• CVS Health reported strong quarterly earnings with $1.81 earnings per share, exceeding analyst estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.665, reflecting a 4.1% dividend yield.

Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) by 13.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,413,853 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after purchasing an additional 2,375,764 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned about 1.61% of CVS Health worth $1,383,039,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Whitebox Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of CVS Health in the fourth quarter worth about $249,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 503.8% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,896,341 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $128,477,000 after acquiring an additional 1,582,257 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 25.0% in the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 648,266 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $43,920,000 after acquiring an additional 129,535 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of CVS Health by 2.1% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,981,262 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $608,481,000 after buying an additional 183,813 shares during the period. Finally, Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Can acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health during the fourth quarter worth about $121,742,000. Institutional investors own 80.66% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $84.00 price objective (up from $76.00) on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays upped their price objective on CVS Health from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on CVS Health from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on CVS Health from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised CVS Health from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CVS Health has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $75.68.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of CVS traded up $0.87 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $66.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,861,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,093,678. CVS Health Corporation has a 1-year low of $43.56 and a 1-year high of $72.51. The stock has a market cap of $84.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.65, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.54. 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 (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $94.87 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that CVS Health Corporation will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 22nd were given a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 22nd. CVS Health's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.30%.

Insider Activity

In other CVS Health news, Director Guy P. Sansone acquired 1,570 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $63.70 per share, with a total value of $100,009.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 12,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $764,845.90. This represents a 15.04% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.