GAMMA Investing LLC Invests $508,000 in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,836 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $508,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CVS. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. raised its position in CVS Health by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 2,859 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of CVS Health by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 3,378 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in CVS Health by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC now owns 3,612 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. WealthShield Partners LLC grew its position in CVS Health by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC now owns 4,498 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $355,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in CVS Health by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,639 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $129,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,059,916.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CVS. Barclays started coverage on CVS Health in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $78.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com downgraded CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Leerink Partnrs reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on CVS Health from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of CVS Health from $83.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.44.

CVS Health Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE CVS traded down $0.55 on Wednesday, hitting $67.95. 3,734,818 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,666,143. CVS Health Co. has a 12 month low of $64.41 and a 12 month high of $83.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $74.97 and a 200-day moving average of $73.76. 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 $85.65 billion, a PE ratio of 10.52, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.52.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $93.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.58 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 15.25%. CVS Health’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.99 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.91%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is 41.18%.

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.