California Public Employees Retirement System Grows Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,839,289 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,559 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.22% of CVS Health worth $224,190,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its stake in CVS Health by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 2,859 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC boosted its position in CVS Health by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 3,378 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC now owns 3,612 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC now owns 4,498 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Finally, Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,639 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at CVS Health

In other news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 39,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,059,916.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CVS Health Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE CVS traded up $0.39 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $70.02. The company had a trading volume of 755,154 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,657,961. The stock has a market cap of $88.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.52. CVS Health Co. has a 52 week low of $64.41 and a 52 week high of $83.25. The business’s 50-day moving average is $75.13 and its 200-day moving average is $73.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its 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. The business had revenue of $93.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.58 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 2.33%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.99 EPS. Equities analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 8.32 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is presently 41.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CVS has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on CVS Health from $83.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on CVS Health from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on CVS Health in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.44.

CVS Health Company 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.