Russell Investments Group Ltd. Has $233.96 Million Stock Holdings in CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS)

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in CVS Health Corporation by 8.8%, purchasing an additional 279,508 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 3.45 million shares valued at $233.96 million.
• Several hedge funds showed significant activity, with Costello Asset Management INC raising its stake by 281.3% in the first quarter, while overall institutional investors hold about 80.66% of CVS's stock.
• CVS Health recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.665 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 4.1%, with a dividend payout ratio of 74.30%.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) by 8.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,453,288 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after buying an additional 279,508 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.27% of CVS Health worth $233,955,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in 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 last quarter. Dodge & Cox increased its holdings in CVS Health by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 70,105,899 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $3,147,054,000 after buying an additional 7,075,209 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in CVS Health by 26.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,039,777 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $2,739,927,000 after buying an additional 12,819,148 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in CVS Health by 4.8% in 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, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in CVS Health by 13.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 20,413,853 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $1,383,039,000 after purchasing an additional 2,375,764 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Baird R W upgraded CVS Health from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays increased their price target on CVS Health from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on CVS Health from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Bernstein Bank lowered their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $75.68.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Guy P. Sansone acquired 1,570 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 acquisition, the director owned 12,007 shares in the company, valued at $764,845.90. The trade was a 15.04% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.22% of the company's stock.

CVS Health Stock Performance

CVS stock traded up $1.83 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $68.56. The stock had a trading volume of 8,251,327 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,937,811. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.58. CVS Health Corporation has a 52 week low of $43.56 and a 52 week high of $72.51. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.86 and a 200 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $98.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.87 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 10.51% and a net margin of 1.17%. CVS Health's quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that CVS Health Corporation will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 (DPR) is presently 74.30%.

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.