Becker Capital Management Inc. Reduces Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Becker Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 24.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 73,693 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 24,288 shares during the period. Becker Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $3,308,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 1,282 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC increased its stake in CVS Health by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC now owns 6,135 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in CVS Health by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 4,457 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $200,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,706 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rogco LP increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Rogco LP now owns 6,752 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CVS. Leerink Partners raised CVS Health from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Edward Jones raised CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of CVS Health from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.83.

Insider Transactions at CVS Health

In other news, Director Michael F. Mahoney purchased 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $66.70 per share, for a total transaction of $2,001,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,625,045.20. The trade was a 320.65 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total value of $498,487.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,394 shares in the company, valued at $556,941.90. This represents a 47.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.22% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Price Performance

CVS stock opened at $66.65 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.80. CVS Health Co. has a 52-week low of $43.56 and a 52-week high of $71.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.30. CVS Health had a return on equity of 9.11% and a net margin of 1.24%. Equities research analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.99%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.68%.

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.