Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV Buys Shares of 25,134 CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS)

Key Points

• Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. acquired 25,134 shares of CVS Health Corporation during the 1st quarter, valued at approximately $1.7 million.
• CVS Health's latest earnings report revealed $2.25 EPS for the quarter, significantly exceeding analyst expectations of $1.62, with revenues of $94.59 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.665 per share, representing an annualized yield of 4.38%, to be paid on August 1st to shareholders of record.

Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV acquired a new position in CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 25,134 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock, valued at approximately $1,703,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CVS. Essex Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in CVS Health by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 20,705 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $1,403,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised 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 buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 17,114 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $1,159,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,930 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 2,610 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $177,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of CVS Health from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of CVS Health from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of CVS Health from $51.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of CVS Health from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Three 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $74.67.

Insider Transactions at CVS Health

In related news, Director Guy P. Sansone purchased 1,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $63.70 per share, for a total transaction of $100,009.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 12,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $764,845.90. This represents a 15.04% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.22% of the company's stock.

CVS Health Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of CVS Health stock traded down $0.50 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $61.80. 17,085,683 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,096,596. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a fifty day moving average of $64.48 and a 200-day moving average of $63.70. CVS Health Corporation has a 52-week low of $43.56 and a 52-week high of $72.51.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $98.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.87 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.39% and a return on equity of 10.59%. CVS Health's revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that CVS Health Corporation will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 22nd will be issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 22nd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.30%. CVS Health's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.48%.

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.