Raymond James & Associates Sells 247,053 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Raymond James & Associates lowered its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) by 8.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,659,013 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after selling 247,053 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned 0.21% of CVS Health worth $212,083,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its position in CVS Health by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 2,859 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC boosted its position in CVS Health by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 3,378 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC boosted its position in CVS Health by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC now owns 3,612 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC boosted its position in CVS Health by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC now owns 4,498 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of CVS Health by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,639 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CVS shares. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on CVS Health from $83.00 to $76.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Barclays started coverage on CVS Health in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $78.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $87.00 price target on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, SVB Leerink initiated coverage on CVS Health in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.44.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total value of $2,267,947.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 39,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,059,916.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CVS Health Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE CVS traded down $0.15 on Friday, hitting $67.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,396,438 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,376,818. CVS Health Co. has a 52-week low of $64.41 and a 52-week high of $83.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $74.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.66. The firm has a market cap of $84.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.40, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.52.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $93.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $90.58 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 2.33%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.99 EPS. Research analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 8.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. CVS Health's payout ratio is presently 41.18%.

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.