South Dakota Investment Council Raises Stock Holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

South Dakota Investment Council boosted its position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 235,726 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,933 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $18,613,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Atticus Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in CVS Health by 149.0% during the 4th quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 366 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its position in shares of CVS Health by 111.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 461 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 400.0% during the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Coston McIsaac & Partners raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 42.6% during the fourth quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 539 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in CVS Health in the fourth quarter valued at $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CVS has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. SVB Leerink assumed coverage on shares of CVS Health in a report on Monday, February 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $88.00 price objective for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $87.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays began coverage on CVS Health in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $78.00 target price for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on CVS Health from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CVS Health has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.44.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total value of $2,267,947.35. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 39,765 shares in the company, valued at $3,059,916.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CVS Health Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of CVS traded down $1.13 on Tuesday, hitting $68.50. 8,441,734 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,757,553. The company has a market capitalization of $86.34 billion, a PE ratio of 10.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.52. CVS Health Co. has a one year low of $64.41 and a one year high of $83.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.86. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.76.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.11. CVS Health had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 2.33%. The firm had revenue of $93.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.99 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 8.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.88%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.18%.

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.