Advisory Services Network LLC Trims Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Advisory Services Network LLC lessened its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 24.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,793 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 26,455 shares during the quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $6,458,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Atticus Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of CVS Health by 149.0% during the 4th quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 366 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas boosted its position in shares of CVS Health by 573.2% during the 4th quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 377 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its position in shares of CVS Health by 111.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 461 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of CVS Health by 400.0% during the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coston McIsaac & Partners boosted its position in shares of CVS Health by 42.6% during the 4th quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 539 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Edward J. Ludwig purchased 1,000 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $53.88 per share, with a total value of $53,880.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 21,630 shares in the company, valued at $1,165,424.40. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CVS. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on CVS Health from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. TD Cowen downgraded CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Mizuho dropped their target price on CVS Health from $86.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded CVS Health from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $87.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $76.75.

CVS Health Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of CVS traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $55.54. 11,725,739 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,230,286. 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 1 year low of $53.70 and a 1 year high of $83.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.76, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $67.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.91.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.38). The business had revenue of $88.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.33 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.53%. CVS Health’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.20 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 7.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd were paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.79%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 46.75%.

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.