Fmr LLC Has $1.26 Billion Stock Holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Fmr LLC reduced its stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,133,050 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 193,991 shares during the period. Fmr LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $1,262,893,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CVS. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in CVS Health during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC boosted its stake in CVS Health by 255.7% in the 4th quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 626 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in CVS Health in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in CVS Health during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Financial Perspectives Inc boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 466 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at CVS Health

In other news, Director Michael F. Mahoney acquired 30,000 shares of CVS Health 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 purchase, the director now owns 39,356 shares in the company, valued at $2,625,045.20. This trade represents a 320.65 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $556,941.90. This represents a 47.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CVS Health Stock Performance

CVS Health stock opened at $63.54 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $63.47 and a 200-day moving average of $58.01. 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 1 year low of $43.56 and a 1 year high of $74.85. The company has a market capitalization of $80.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.57.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released 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 net margin of 1.24% and a return on equity of 9.11%. On average, equities research analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.19%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on CVS. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Leerink Partners raised CVS Health from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wolfe Research upped their target price on CVS Health from 67.00 to 70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Four 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.39.

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.