Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Invests $2.11 Million in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 26,500 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $2,114,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Paloma Partners Management Co grew its position in CVS Health by 502.1% during the first quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 31,913 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,545,000 after buying an additional 26,613 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC grew its position in shares of CVS Health by 503.7% in the 1st quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 17,610 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,405,000 after buying an additional 14,693 shares during the last quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in CVS Health by 647.2% during the 1st quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC now owns 1,853 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,605 shares during the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in CVS Health by 29.1% during the first quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 109,038 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $8,697,000 after buying an additional 24,598 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 174,398 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $13,910,000 after acquiring an additional 10,871 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on CVS. Argus decreased their price target on shares of CVS Health from $100.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $101.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays decreased their price objective on CVS Health from $78.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of CVS Health from $95.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird began coverage on CVS Health in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $61.00 price objective for the company. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.05.

CVS Health Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of CVS traded up $1.65 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $63.22. The stock had a trading volume of 4,895,946 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,547,652. CVS Health Co. has a 1-year low of $52.77 and a 1-year 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. The company has a market cap of $79.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.95, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $58.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.17.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.38). The company had revenue of $88.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.33 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 13.53% and a net margin of 2.03%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.20 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 22nd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.21%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Edward J. Ludwig acquired 1,000 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $53.88 per share, for a total transaction of $53,880.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 21,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,165,424.40. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.