Israel Discount Bank of New York Lowers Stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Israel Discount Bank of New York lessened its holdings in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 10.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,953 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 967 shares during the period. Israel Discount Bank of New York’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $628,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CVS. FMR LLC grew its position in CVS Health by 29.1% during the 3rd 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 during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 8,697.2% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,322,129 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $104,395,000 after purchasing an additional 1,307,100 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 49.9% during the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,095,978 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $146,341,000 after buying an additional 698,054 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,513,230 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $435,325,000 after buying an additional 616,785 shares during the period. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,379,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at CVS Health

In related news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 39,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,059,916.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on CVS shares. StockNews.com lowered CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Leerink Partnrs reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $87.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, SVB Leerink assumed coverage on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued 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 $89.44.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CVS traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $67.30. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,815,469 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,580,405. CVS Health Co. has a 1-year low of $64.41 and a 1-year high of $83.25. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $74.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.67. 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 firm has a market cap of $84.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.52.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.99 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.95%. 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.