AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Buys 316,145 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 29.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,385,890 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after buying an additional 316,145 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $81,851,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. USA Financial Formulas boosted its position in shares of CVS Health by 573.2% during the fourth quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 377 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new position in CVS Health during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. First Community Trust NA raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 116.2% in the 2nd quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 562 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Steph & Co. grew its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 192.0% during the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 438 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CVS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on CVS Health from $101.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Barclays reduced their price objective on CVS Health from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Argus decreased their price target on shares of CVS Health from $100.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on CVS Health from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.24.

CVS Health Stock Performance

CVS Health stock traded down $1.24 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $57.46. The company had a trading volume of 6,180,505 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,231,572. CVS Health Co. has a 12-month low of $52.77 and a 12-month high of $83.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $72.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s fifty day moving average is $58.81 and its 200-day moving average is $64.89.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.10. CVS Health had a return on equity of 13.53% and a net margin of 2.03%. The firm had revenue of $91.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.41 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.21 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 7 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Monday, July 22nd were given a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 22nd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.