Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Decreases Stock Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its holdings in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,375 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 4,806 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $3,024,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of CVS Health during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC lifted its stake in CVS Health by 255.7% during the fourth quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 626 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in CVS Health during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in CVS Health during the third quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in CVS Health during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at CVS Health

In related news, Director Michael F. Mahoney purchased 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $66.70 per share, for a total transaction of $2,001,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,625,045.20. This trade represents a 320.65 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the 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 owns 8,394 shares of the company’s stock, 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CVS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen raised 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. Argus set a $77.00 price objective on CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Wolfe Research increased their target price on CVS Health from 67.00 to 70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays increased their target price on CVS Health from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased 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. Four equities research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.83.

CVS Health Price Performance

NYSE:CVS opened at $68.71 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $60.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.28. The firm has a market cap of $86.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. CVS Health Co. has a 52-week low of $43.56 and a 52-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.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.87%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.