Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Has $2.51 Million Stock Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC trimmed its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) by 74.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,812 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after selling 158,464 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in CVS Health were worth $2,505,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CVS. Ridgewood Investments LLC raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 255.7% during the fourth quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 626 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of CVS Health in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Financial Perspectives Inc lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 137.5% in the fourth quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 805 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 466 shares during the period. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CVS shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of CVS Health from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on shares of CVS Health from 67.00 to 70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of CVS Health from $73.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of CVS Health from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four equities research 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 MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $73.00.

Insider Activity at CVS Health

In other news, Director Michael F. Mahoney acquired 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $66.70 per share, with a total value of $2,001,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,625,045.20. This represents a 320.65 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total transaction of $498,487.55. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $556,941.90. This represents a 47.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CVS Health Stock Performance

NYSE CVS traded down $1.96 on Friday, hitting $67.49. 14,303,584 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,663,528. The business's fifty day moving average is $66.64 and its 200 day moving average is $58.87. The company has a market capitalization of $85.09 billion, a PE ratio of 18.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.60. CVS Health Co. has a 52 week low of $43.56 and a 52 week high of $72.51.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $94.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.07 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.24% and a return on equity of 9.11%. The business's revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. CVS Health's payout ratio is 72.68%.

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.