CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS) Shares Sold by LGT Group Foundation

Key Points

• LGT Group Foundation significantly reduced its stake in CVS Health by 80.2%, selling 35,227 shares in the first quarter, leaving them with 8,695 shares valued at $589,000.
• CVS Health recently reported a quarterly EPS of $1.81, exceeding analysts' expectations, and an 8.4% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.665 per share, resulting in an annual yield of 4.1% with a payout ratio of 74.30%.

LGT Group Foundation lowered its stake in CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) by 80.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,695 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after selling 35,227 shares during the quarter. LGT Group Foundation's holdings in CVS Health were worth $589,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 118,335,394 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $8,017,223,000 after buying an additional 969,027 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox grew its position in shares of CVS Health by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 70,105,899 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $3,147,054,000 after purchasing an additional 7,075,209 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of CVS Health by 26.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,039,777 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $2,739,927,000 after purchasing an additional 12,819,148 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of CVS Health by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 26,666,401 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $1,196,989,000 after purchasing an additional 1,212,126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of CVS Health by 13.2% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.66% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at CVS Health

In other news, Director Guy P. Sansone bought 1,570 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $63.70 per share, with a total value of $100,009.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 12,007 shares of the company's stock, valued at $764,845.90. The trade was a 15.04% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on CVS. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on CVS Health from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Bernstein Bank cut their target price 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded CVS Health from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of CVS Health in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on CVS Health from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $75.68.

CVS Health Price Performance

NYSE CVS traded up $1.83 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $68.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,251,802 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,019,700. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.58. CVS Health Corporation has a 1-year low of $43.56 and a 1-year high of $72.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company's 50-day moving average is $64.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.62.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. CVS Health's quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that CVS Health Corporation will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 22nd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. CVS Health's dividend payout ratio is presently 74.30%.

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.