Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Stake in CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,452,700 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after purchasing an additional 29,278 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of CVS Health worth $98,420,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of CVS Health by 0.4% in the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 108,312 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $7,338,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in CVS Health during the first quarter valued at $207,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in CVS Health by 248.0% during the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 282,232 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $19,121,000 after buying an additional 201,120 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in CVS Health by 36.4% during the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 9,415 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $638,000 after buying an additional 2,513 shares during the period. Finally, Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in CVS Health by 23.6% during the first quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,900 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $738,000 after buying an additional 2,078 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 shares were purchased at an average price of $63.70 per share, for a total transaction of $100,009.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 12,007 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $764,845.90. The trade was a 15.04% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.22% of the company's stock.

CVS Health Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE:CVS traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $66.85. 2,401,252 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,800,317. CVS Health Corporation has a 12-month low of $43.56 and a 12-month high of $72.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.95, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.57. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $65.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.86.

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

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.98%. CVS Health's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on CVS. Barclays set a $79.00 price objective on CVS Health and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on CVS Health from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $84.00 price objective (up previously from $76.00) on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on CVS Health from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $75.06.

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.