Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Sells 18,694 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL decreased its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 11.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 143,853 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 18,694 shares during the quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $6,458,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CVS. EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC boosted its stake in CVS Health by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC now owns 6,135 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in CVS Health by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 4,457 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $200,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,706 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Rogco LP grew its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Rogco LP now owns 6,752 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cozad Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of CVS Health by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,532 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on CVS. Barclays increased their target price on CVS Health from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Tuesday. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of CVS Health from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock 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 CVS Health news, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were 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 approximately $556,941.90. The trade was a 47.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Michael F. Mahoney acquired 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 acquisition, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,625,045.20. The trade was a 320.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Stock Performance

CVS opened at $68.59 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.70. 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 has a market cap of $86.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.74, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.57. CVS Health Co. has a 1-year low of $43.56 and a 1-year high of $71.45.

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

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.88%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 72.68%.

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.