White Pine Capital LLC Lowers Holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

White Pine Capital LLC trimmed its position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 9.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,915 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 1,067 shares during the quarter. White Pine Capital LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $783,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CVS. Alexander Randolph Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the 4th quarter worth $4,410,000. Kovack Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 66.0% during the 4th quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 25,278 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,996,000 after purchasing an additional 10,050 shares during the last quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 59.2% during the 4th quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc now owns 53,221 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $4,202,000 after purchasing an additional 19,800 shares during the last quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. now owns 23,965 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,893,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 7,618 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $602,000 after purchasing an additional 908 shares during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CVS. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $87.00 price objective on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on CVS Health from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com lowered CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on CVS Health from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CVS Health presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.44.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of CVS traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $67.18. The company had a trading volume of 6,396,438 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,376,818. CVS Health Co. has a 52-week low of $64.41 and a 52-week high of $83.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.40, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $74.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.66.

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

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business 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 of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.96%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 41.18%.

Insider Transactions at CVS Health

In other CVS Health news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 39,765 shares in the company, valued at $3,059,916.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.