Parthenon LLC Cuts Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Parthenon LLC lessened its holdings in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 142,325 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 6,136 shares during the quarter. Parthenon LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $6,389,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CVS. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of CVS Health by 34.8% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 11,897,034 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $748,085,000 after buying an additional 3,071,613 shares during the period. ARGA Investment Management LP boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 7,567.7% in the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 2,402,901 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $107,866,000 after acquiring an additional 2,371,563 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 3.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,527,909 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,554,475,000 after purchasing an additional 1,989,066 shares during the period. TOMS Capital Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health during the third quarter worth $121,987,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 5,864.2% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,730,343 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $108,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,701,331 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on CVS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays increased their price target on CVS Health from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wolfe Research upped their target price on CVS Health from 67.00 to 70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Edward Jones raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Leerink Partners raised shares of CVS Health from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $55.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.00.

CVS Health Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:CVS opened at $66.35 on Thursday. CVS Health Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.56 and a fifty-two week high of $80.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $83.65 billion, a PE ratio of 18.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $51.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.12.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.30. CVS Health had a return on equity of 9.11% and a net margin of 1.24%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 5.92 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 23rd. CVS Health’s payout ratio is currently 72.68%.

Insider Activity at CVS Health

In related news, Director Michael F. Mahoney purchased 30,000 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $66.70 per share, with a total value of $2,001,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 39,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,625,045.20. The trade was a 320.65 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About CVS Health

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.