Heritage Investors Management Corp Lowers Stock Holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Heritage Investors Management Corp lowered its stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 36,244 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 1,822 shares during the quarter. Heritage Investors Management Corp’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $2,862,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in CVS Health by 29.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 27,487,238 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,919,159,000 after purchasing an additional 6,194,441 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 8,697.2% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,322,129 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $104,395,000 after acquiring an additional 1,307,100 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 49.9% during the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,095,978 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $146,341,000 after purchasing an additional 698,054 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in CVS Health by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,513,230 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $435,325,000 after purchasing an additional 616,785 shares during the period. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in CVS Health in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,379,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CVS. Mizuho dropped their price target on CVS Health from $86.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of CVS Health from $76.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Leerink Partnrs downgraded shares of CVS Health from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, SVB Leerink reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective (down previously from $87.00) on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CVS Health presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $76.75.

CVS Health Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of CVS traded up $0.76 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $55.67. 10,298,162 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,874,933. The firm has a market cap of $69.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.79, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. CVS Health Co. has a 12-month low of $53.70 and a 12-month high of $83.25. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $71.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.96.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.38). CVS Health had a return on equity of 13.53% and a net margin of 2.03%. The firm had revenue of $88.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.20 EPS. CVS Health’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.78%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.75%.

Insider Activity

In other CVS Health news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total value of $2,267,947.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 39,765 shares in the company, valued at $3,059,916.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Edward J. Ludwig acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $53.88 per share, with a total value of $53,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,165,424.40. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total transaction of $2,267,947.35. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,059,916.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.