CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Shares Sold by LRI Investments LLC

LRI Investments LLC cut its stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) by 48.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,162 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after selling 8,637 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC's holdings in CVS Health were worth $411,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CVS. Dodge & Cox increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 7,075,209 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its position in CVS Health by 26.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,039,777 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $2,739,927,000 after purchasing an additional 12,819,148 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,051,540 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $1,211,582,000 after buying an additional 689,867 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 26,666,401 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $1,196,989,000 after buying an additional 1,212,126 shares during the period. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 49.3% in the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 19,610,579 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $880,319,000 after buying an additional 6,475,271 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of CVS Health in a report on Monday, May 5th. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of CVS Health from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $55.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of CVS Health from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (up previously from $76.00) on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Edward Jones upgraded CVS Health from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $74.94.

CVS Health Price Performance

NYSE CVS traded up $0.38 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $60.42. The stock had a trading volume of 11,209,003 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,467,743. CVS Health Co. has a twelve month low of $43.56 and a twelve month high of $72.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm's 50 day moving average is $66.71 and its 200 day moving average is $59.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.51, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.60.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.63. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.24% and a return on equity of 9.11%. The firm had revenue of $94.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.07 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd were issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.40%. CVS Health's payout ratio is 63.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

CVS Health Company 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.