Avior Wealth Management LLC Raises Stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,039 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $635,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CVS. Lipe & Dalton boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Lipe & Dalton now owns 28,015 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,212,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Alliance raised its holdings in CVS Health by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 14,928 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,179,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. boosted its position in CVS Health by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 9,506 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,181 shares in the last quarter. First American Trust FSB increased its position in shares of CVS Health by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. First American Trust FSB now owns 84,971 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $6,709,000 after buying an additional 1,895 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grant GrossMendelsohn LLC raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 21.5% during the 4th quarter. Grant GrossMendelsohn LLC now owns 11,112 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $811,000 after buying an additional 1,970 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays initiated coverage on CVS Health in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $78.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $87.00 price target on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on CVS Health in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $88.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Leerink Partnrs reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.44.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of CVS stock opened at $68.58 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $86.44 billion, a PE ratio of 10.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.73. CVS Health Co. has a 52 week low of $64.41 and a 52 week high of $83.25.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.11. CVS Health had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 2.33%. The company had revenue of $93.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 8.32 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.88%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total transaction of $2,267,947.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,765 shares in the company, valued at $3,059,916.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.