ProShare Advisors LLC Acquires 26,054 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) by 13.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 225,757 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after purchasing an additional 26,054 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC's holdings in CVS Health were worth $10,134,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CVS. Dodge & Cox raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 7,075,209 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in CVS Health by 26.6% during the 4th 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. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in CVS Health by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,051,540 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $1,211,582,000 after buying an additional 689,867 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake 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 buying an additional 1,212,126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 49.3% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 19,610,579 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $880,319,000 after buying an additional 6,475,271 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho raised their price objective on CVS Health from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. StockNews.com raised CVS Health from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of CVS Health from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $84.00 price target (up from $76.00) on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $74.94.

CVS Health Trading Down 2.5%

CVS stock traded down $1.62 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $62.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,152,935 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,391,011. CVS Health Co. has a 12 month low of $43.56 and a 12 month high of $72.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The business's 50 day moving average price is $66.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.32. The company has a market cap of $78.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.60.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.63. The company had revenue of $94.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.07 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.24% and a return on equity of 9.11%. CVS Health's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 22nd. CVS Health's payout ratio is 63.48%.

Insider Activity at CVS Health

In related news, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total transaction of $498,487.55. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $556,941.90. The trade was a 47.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CVS Health Company 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.