CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Shares Acquired by Meritage Portfolio Management

Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 30.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 66,322 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,548 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $5,237,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 0.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,162,626 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $8,180,295,000 after acquiring an additional 485,744 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 29.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 27,487,238 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,919,159,000 after purchasing an additional 6,194,441 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 2.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,214,296 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $992,442,000 after purchasing an additional 305,564 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 2.2% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,136,920 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $987,041,000 after purchasing an additional 303,512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 2.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,717,825 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $864,821,000 after purchasing an additional 324,391 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $87.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on CVS Health from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on CVS Health from $83.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on CVS Health in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Finally, Leerink Partnrs restated an “outperform” rating on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.44.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, 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. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CVS Health Stock Performance

CVS stock traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $67.22. 4,386,465 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,628,810. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. CVS Health Co. has a 52 week low of $64.41 and a 52 week high of $83.25. The business has a 50-day moving average of $74.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.73 billion, a PE ratio of 10.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.52.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $93.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.58 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 8.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 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.