CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Shares Bought by Country Trust Bank

Country Trust Bank boosted its position in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 383,339 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after buying an additional 21,754 shares during the quarter. Country Trust Bank’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $24,104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CVS. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 132.9% in the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 12,936,388 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $764,023,000 after purchasing an additional 7,382,931 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in CVS Health by 12.5% in 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 World Investors increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 8.0% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 43,776,874 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,491,643,000 after buying an additional 3,232,172 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 402.5% during the 2nd quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 2,005,677 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $118,455,000 after acquiring an additional 1,606,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health in the 1st quarter worth $110,816,000. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CVS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 price target on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of CVS Health from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $62.00 price target on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, TD Cowen raised CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.05.

CVS Health Trading Up 1.0 %

CVS Health stock opened at $65.88 on Wednesday. CVS Health Co. has a one year low of $52.77 and a one year high of $83.25. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $58.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $82.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.58, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.54.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $91.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $91.41 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 12.72% and a net margin of 1.98%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.21 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st will be paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.04%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is presently 46.75%.

CVS Health Company 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.