Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Buys 13,268 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 0.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,699,034 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after buying an additional 13,268 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 0.85% of CVS Health worth $853,356,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. USA Financial Formulas increased its position in CVS Health by 573.2% during the 4th quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 377 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of CVS Health in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Steph & Co. increased its position in shares of CVS Health by 192.0% during the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 438 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in CVS Health in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 80.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Edward J. Ludwig purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $53.88 per share, with a total value of $53,880.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 21,630 shares in the company, valued at $1,165,424.40. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on CVS shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on CVS Health from $76.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. UBS Group downgraded shares of CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $85.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $101.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Leerink Partnrs cut shares of CVS Health from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 target price (down from $90.00) on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.05.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CVS traded up $2.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $61.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 14,553,173 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,959,074. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $58.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.58 billion, a PE ratio of 10.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.52. CVS Health Co. has a 52 week low of $52.77 and a 52 week high of $83.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.53%. The company had revenue of $88.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.33 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.20 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 22nd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.75%.

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.