Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Increases Holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS - Free Report) by 14.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,366,403 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after buying an additional 1,660,321 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 1.06% of CVS Health worth $600,019,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 4.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,434,476 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $90,200,000 after acquiring an additional 66,244 shares in the last quarter. Hall Laurie J Trustee raised its position in CVS Health by 25,484.4% in the 4th quarter. Hall Laurie J Trustee now owns 11,513 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $517,000 after purchasing an additional 11,468 shares in the last quarter. B&D White Capital Company LLC purchased a new position in shares of CVS Health in the 4th quarter valued at about $417,000. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC grew its position in shares of CVS Health by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC now owns 7,302 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seizert Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 569,527 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $25,566,000 after buying an additional 105,708 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CVS Health Stock Performance

CVS Health stock traded up $1.46 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $66.49. 4,152,705 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,806,677. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market cap of $83.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.57. CVS Health Co. has a 12-month low of $43.56 and a 12-month high of $71.45. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $66.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.74.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.30. CVS Health had a return on equity of 9.11% and a net margin of 1.24%. Equities research analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.00%. CVS Health's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on CVS. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of CVS Health from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of CVS Health from $51.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on CVS Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on CVS Health from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on CVS Health from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $71.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at CVS Health

In other news, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,394 shares of the company's stock, valued at $556,941.90. This trade represents a 47.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael F. Mahoney acquired 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $66.70 per share, with a total value of $2,001,000.00. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.