Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Boosts Stock Holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp increased its position in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,949 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 449 shares during the period. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $2,602,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in CVS Health by 0.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,162,626 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $8,180,295,000 after buying an additional 485,744 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in CVS Health by 29.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in CVS Health by 2.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,214,296 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $992,442,000 after buying an additional 305,564 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,136,920 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $987,041,000 after purchasing an additional 303,512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,717,825 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $864,821,000 after purchasing an additional 324,391 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of CVS traded down $0.66 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $67.11. The stock had a trading volume of 1,979,789 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,616,609. The company has a market cap of $84.59 billion, a PE ratio of 10.49, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $74.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. CVS Health Co. has a fifty-two week low of $64.41 and a fifty-two week high of $83.25.

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

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.96%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CVS. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $88.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of CVS Health from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. StockNews.com lowered shares of CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of CVS Health from $83.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on CVS Health in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $78.00 price target for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CVS Health currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.44.

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.