Legal & General Group Plc Takes $948.95 Million Position in CVS Health Corporation $CVS

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 9,172,999 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $948,947,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 407.2% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 350 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the period. Swiss RE Ltd. bought a new position in CVS Health during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Kilter Group LLC purchased a new stake in CVS Health in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Sankala Group LLC bought a new stake in CVS Health in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC raised its stake in CVS Health by 344.8% during the 1st quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 387 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Stock Up 1.1%

CVS opened at $94.06 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $120.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $101.88 and its 200 day moving average is $89.08. CVS Health Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $69.51 and a fifty-two week high of $110.68.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.71. CVS Health had a return on equity of 13.12% and a net margin of 1.18%.The company had revenue of $106.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $100.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.81 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. CVS Health has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.900-8.100 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that CVS Health Corporation will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 23rd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings raised CVS Health from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on CVS Health from $106.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $103.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, HSBC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $103.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a report on Monday, July 6th. Twenty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CVS Health has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.17.

About CVS Health

CVS Health Corporation is a diversified healthcare company that operates a large network of retail pharmacies, pharmacy benefit management services and health care solutions. Headquartered in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, the company traces its roots to the early 1960s and has grown into an integrated provider of prescription drugs, over?the?counter products, clinical services and health insurance offerings. Its operating model combines retail pharmacy locations and in?store clinics with broader pharmacy and health plan capabilities.

Key business activities include CVS Pharmacy retail operations, MinuteClinic walk?in medical clinics and HealthHUB locations that offer expanded clinical services.