Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Has $2.59 Million Stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 43,915 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 1,380 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $2,594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in CVS Health by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,722 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $279,000 after acquiring an additional 467 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in CVS Health in the second quarter valued at about $1,140,000. Excalibur Management Corp raised its holdings in CVS Health by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 45,784 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,704,000 after purchasing an additional 1,526 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 20.5% in the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 39,261 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,319,000 after purchasing an additional 6,670 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of CVS Health by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 148,522 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $8,778,000 after buying an additional 1,688 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of CVS Health in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on CVS Health in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $61.00 target price on the stock. Barclays cut their price target 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of CVS Health from $101.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CVS Health has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.10.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of CVS opened at $58.42 on Thursday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $58.33 and a 200-day moving average of $62.74. The company has a market cap of $73.34 billion, a PE ratio of 10.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.53. CVS Health Co. has a one year low of $52.77 and a one year high of $83.25.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $91.41 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.21 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 22nd were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 22nd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.55%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.75%.

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.