Haverford Trust Co Reduces Stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Haverford Trust Co decreased its position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 93,380 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 7,698 shares during the quarter. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $4,192,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CVS. Davis Selected Advisers raised its holdings in CVS Health by 2,998.1% in the 4th quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 11,385,950 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $511,115,000 after purchasing an additional 11,018,438 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 49.3% in the fourth 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 period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $748,085,000 after buying an additional 3,071,613 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of CVS Health during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $116,033,000. Finally, ARGA Investment Management LP raised its stake in CVS Health by 7,567.7% during 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. 80.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CVS. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised CVS Health from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on CVS Health from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Leerink Partners raised CVS Health from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CVS Health currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.39.

CVS Health Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE CVS opened at $67.54 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.45, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. CVS Health Co. has a 1-year low of $43.56 and a 1-year high of $80.75. The business’s 50 day moving average is $60.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.30. CVS Health had a return on equity of 9.11% and a net margin of 1.24%. As a group, research analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.94%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 72.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CVS Health news, Director Michael F. Mahoney purchased 30,000 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $66.70 per share, for a total transaction of $2,001,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 39,356 shares in the company, valued at $2,625,045.20. This represents a 320.65 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total value of $498,487.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,394 shares in the company, valued at $556,941.90. This trade represents a 47.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.