Brown Financial Advisors Purchases Shares of 11,573 CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Brown Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 11,573 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $684,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in CVS Health by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,696,285 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $9,293,299,000 after acquiring an additional 533,659 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in CVS Health by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 43,776,874 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,491,643,000 after purchasing an additional 3,232,172 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in CVS Health by 12.5% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,917,923 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,024,334,000 after buying an additional 4,226,225 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in CVS Health by 1.4% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,143,822 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,048,351,000 after buying an additional 184,297 shares during the period. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 132.9% during the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 12,936,388 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $764,023,000 after acquiring an additional 7,382,931 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of CVS Health stock opened at $61.54 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $77.26 billion, a PE ratio of 10.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50 day moving average of $58.37 and a 200-day moving average of $61.66. CVS Health Co. has a 1-year low of $52.77 and a 1-year high of $83.25.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.10. CVS Health had a return on equity of 12.72% and a net margin of 1.98%. The firm had revenue of $91.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.21 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 46.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CVS shares. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on CVS Health from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Barclays reduced their price objective on CVS Health from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $68.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.10.

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.