Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires 472,880 Shares of CVS Health Corporation $CVS

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in CVS Health Corporation by 18.3%, acquiring an additional 472,880 shares for a total of approximately $207.16 million.
• Institutional investors own 80.66% of CVS's stock, with notable increases in holdings from firms like Goldman Sachs and Assenagon Asset Management.
• CVS Health recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.665 per share, yielding approximately 3.9%, reflecting a dividend payout ratio of 74.30%.

Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) by 18.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,057,709 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after acquiring an additional 472,880 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.24% of CVS Health worth $207,160,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CVS. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in CVS Health by 87.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,927,650 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $672,598,000 after acquiring an additional 4,632,530 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of CVS Health in the 1st quarter worth about $204,421,000. Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Can purchased a new position in shares of CVS Health in the 4th quarter worth about $121,742,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 310.8% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,523,824 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $238,739,000 after purchasing an additional 2,666,029 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 13.2% in the 1st 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. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CVS. Bernstein Bank cut their price objective on CVS Health from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of CVS Health in a report on Monday, August 4th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on CVS Health from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. 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 report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price 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 given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $75.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CVS Health 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 acquisition, the director owned 12,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $764,845.90. This trade represents a 15.04% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CVS Health Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of CVS opened at $68.56 on Monday. CVS Health Corporation has a 1-year low of $43.56 and a 1-year high of $72.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.15, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.58. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $64.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.72. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.35. CVS Health had a return on equity of 10.51% and a net margin of 1.17%. The firm had revenue of $98.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. The business's revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CVS Health Corporation will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 22nd were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 22nd. CVS Health's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.

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