CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Shares Sold by Sandy Spring Bank

Sandy Spring Bank lowered its holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 23.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 40,648 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 12,212 shares during the quarter. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $1,825,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 3.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,989,066 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,361,673 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,651,997,000 after acquiring an additional 461,569 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 49.3% during the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 19,610,579 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $880,319,000 after buying an additional 6,475,271 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,918,949 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $579,932,000 after buying an additional 710,281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 34.8% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CVS has been the subject of several research reports. Argus set a $77.00 price target on CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays lifted their price target on CVS Health from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on CVS Health from $60.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on CVS Health from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CVS Health has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.83.

CVS Health Stock Up 1.2 %

CVS opened at $68.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a 50-day moving average of $60.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.28. CVS Health Co. has a 12 month low of $43.56 and a 12 month high of $80.75.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its 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, research analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.87%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is currently 72.68%.

Insider Transactions at CVS Health

In related news, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total transaction of $498,487.55. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $556,941.90. The trade was a 47.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael F. Mahoney purchased 30,000 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $66.70 per share, for a total transaction 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 represents a 320.65 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.