Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. Makes New $206,000 Investment in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. purchased a new position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,039 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CVS. Whitebox Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CVS Health in the fourth quarter worth $249,000. B&D White Capital Company LLC bought a new stake in shares of CVS Health in the 4th quarter worth approximately $417,000. Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Can acquired a new stake in CVS Health during the fourth quarter worth $121,742,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in CVS Health by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,290,953 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $192,617,000 after purchasing an additional 293,406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seizert Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of CVS Health by 22.8% during the 4th quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 569,527 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $25,566,000 after buying an additional 105,708 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Guy P. Sansone purchased 1,570 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $63.70 per share, for a total transaction of $100,009.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,007 shares in the company, valued at $764,845.90. This represents a 15.04% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on CVS Health from $51.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on CVS Health from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Argus set a $77.00 price objective on CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of CVS Health in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on CVS Health from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CVS Health currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.75.

CVS Health Trading Up 1.6%

NYSE CVS opened at $67.42 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.15. CVS Health Co. has a twelve month low of $43.56 and a twelve month high of $72.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $85.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.42, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.56.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.63. CVS Health had a return on equity of 9.11% and a net margin of 1.24%. The firm had revenue of $94.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.07 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 22nd were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.95%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.48%.

CVS Health 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.