Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 20,872 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lessened its position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 614,924 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 20,872 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $27,604,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC lifted its position in shares of CVS Health by 49.9% in the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 4,836 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $217,000 after buying an additional 1,610 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its stake in CVS Health by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 5,314 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $239,000 after acquiring an additional 793 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 47.2% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 28,801 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,293,000 after purchasing an additional 9,234 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC boosted its position in CVS Health by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 33,271 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,494,000 after purchasing an additional 4,024 shares during the period. Finally, Southland Equity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 44.0% in the fourth quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 4,985 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 1,523 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CVS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on CVS Health from 67.00 to 70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on CVS Health from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on CVS Health from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CVS Health presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.94.

CVS Health Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of CVS Health stock opened at $60.80 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $43.56 and a 12-month high of $72.51. The company has a market capitalization of $76.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.61, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $66.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.41.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.63. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.24% and a return on equity of 9.11%. The business had revenue of $94.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.38%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CVS Health news, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total transaction of $498,487.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $556,941.90. The trade was a 47.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.