Watchtower Advisors LP acquired a new stake in CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 260,000 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock, valued at approximately $17,615,000. CVS Health accounts for about 12.8% of Watchtower Advisors LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in shares of CVS Health by 32.6% during the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 707 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC boosted its stake in CVS Health by 281.3% during the first quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 572 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 422 shares during the period. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 39.4% in the 1st quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 637 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 77.2% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 1,024 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other CVS Health news, Director Guy P. Sansone purchased 1,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $63.70 per share, for a total transaction of $100,009.00. Following the purchase, the director directly 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.22% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research firms have commented on CVS. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $84.00 price target (up from $76.00) on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Bernstein Bank decreased their target price on 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. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on CVS Health from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target 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, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $75.11.
Read Our Latest Research Report on CVS Health
CVS Health Stock Up 0.0%
CVS stock opened at $63.54 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $80.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.75, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.58. 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 Corporation has a twelve month low of $43.56 and a twelve month high of $72.51. The company's 50 day moving average is $64.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.14.
CVS Health (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.17% and a return on equity of 10.51%. The firm had revenue of $98.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.87 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.83 EPS. CVS Health's revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that CVS Health Corporation will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
CVS Health Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 22nd were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 22nd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. CVS Health's payout ratio is 74.30%.
About CVS Health
(
Free Report)
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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