Carret Asset Management LLC Sells 41,287 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Carret Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 45.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 49,042 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 41,287 shares during the period. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $2,201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,527,909 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,554,475,000 after acquiring an additional 1,989,066 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,361,673 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,651,997,000 after acquiring an additional 461,569 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 49.3% in the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 19,610,579 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $880,319,000 after acquiring an additional 6,475,271 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 5.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 710,281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its stake in CVS Health by 34.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Stock Up 1.5 %

CVS opened at $65.79 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $58.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.93. CVS Health Co. has a twelve month low of $43.56 and a twelve month high of $80.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.98, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.53.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 1.24% and a return on equity of 9.11%. Equities research analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.04%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CVS Health

In other CVS Health news, Director Michael F. Mahoney bought 30,000 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $66.70 per share, with a total value of $2,001,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 39,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,625,045.20. This represents a 320.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $556,941.90. This trade represents a 47.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on CVS. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of CVS Health from 67.00 to 70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of CVS Health from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Edward Jones upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.83.

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.