Cozad Asset Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Cozad Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,532 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after buying an additional 233 shares during the quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 3.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,527,909 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,554,475,000 after buying an additional 1,989,066 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,361,673 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,651,997,000 after purchasing an additional 461,569 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 49.3% in the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 19,610,579 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $880,319,000 after purchasing an additional 6,475,271 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,918,949 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $579,932,000 after purchasing an additional 710,281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 11,897,034 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $748,085,000 after purchasing an additional 3,071,613 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of CVS opened at $67.49 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $59.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.12. 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 company has a market capitalization of $85.09 billion, a PE ratio of 18.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. CVS Health Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.56 and a fifty-two week high of $80.75.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.94%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.68%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 47.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Michael F. Mahoney acquired 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,625,045.20. This trade represents a 320.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CVS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on CVS Health from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on CVS Health from $72.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 25th. Edward Jones raised CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Argus set a $77.00 price target on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. 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 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.83.

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.