Arizona State Retirement System Increases Stock Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 361,954 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after buying an additional 2,008 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $16,248,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new position in CVS Health during the fourth quarter valued at $557,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of CVS Health in the 4th quarter worth about $5,544,000. Seizert Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 22.8% in the 4th quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 569,527 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $25,566,000 after purchasing an additional 105,708 shares during the last quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 19,986.7% in the 4th quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 3,013 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 2,998 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clark Estates Inc. NY raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 19.8% in the 4th quarter. Clark Estates Inc. NY now owns 45,375 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,037,000 after purchasing an additional 7,500 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at CVS Health

In related news, Director Michael F. Mahoney acquired 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $66.70 per share, with a total value of $2,001,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares in the company, valued at $2,625,045.20. This trade represents a 320.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on CVS Health from $72.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on CVS Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wolfe Research upped their price target on shares of CVS Health from 67.00 to 70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Edward Jones upgraded CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Four equities research 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 MarketBeat, CVS Health currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.83.

CVS Health Price Performance

CVS opened at $66.01 on Thursday. CVS Health Co. has a 12-month low of $43.56 and a 12-month high of $80.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.63. The company has a market capitalization of $83.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.04, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.61.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 23rd. CVS Health’s payout ratio is currently 72.68%.

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.