Citizens & Northern Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Citizens & Northern Corp lessened its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,183 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 1,117 shares during the quarter. CVS Health comprises about 0.8% of Citizens & Northern Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Citizens & Northern Corp’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $2,225,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CVS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in CVS Health in the fourth quarter worth about $1,092,040,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in CVS Health by 29.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 27,487,238 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,919,159,000 after buying an additional 6,194,441 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 306.6% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,046,216 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $240,529,000 after acquiring an additional 2,297,100 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of CVS Health by 8,697.2% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,322,129 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $104,395,000 after acquiring an additional 1,307,100 shares during the period. Finally, Canoe Financial LP increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 95.1% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 1,762,629 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $139,177,000 after purchasing an additional 859,134 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on CVS. Leerink Partnrs lowered CVS Health from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. SVB Leerink restated a “market perform” rating and set a $60.00 target price (down previously from $87.00) on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of CVS Health from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of CVS Health from $86.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on CVS Health from $78.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CVS Health has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $76.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Edward J. Ludwig acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $53.88 per share, with a total value of $53,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,630 shares in the company, valued at $1,165,424.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CVS Health Trading Down 2.8 %

NYSE:CVS traded down $1.59 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $55.85. 12,935,907 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,950,296. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. CVS Health Co. has a 52 week low of $53.70 and a 52 week high of $83.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.04, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $67.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.13.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.38). The business had revenue of $88.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.33 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.53%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.20 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 7.02 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.76%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.75%.

CVS Health 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.