Fortis Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Fortis Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 17.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,200 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 900 shares during the quarter. Fortis Advisors LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC grew its holdings in CVS Health by 49.9% in the 4th 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 period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CVS Health in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in CVS Health by 24.8% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 644,326 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $28,924,000 after purchasing an additional 128,231 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in CVS Health during the fourth quarter worth approximately $248,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its stake in CVS Health by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 18,347 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $824,000 after purchasing an additional 2,586 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CVS Health Stock Performance

CVS Health stock opened at $67.42 on Friday. CVS Health Co. has a 12-month low of $43.56 and a 12-month high of $72.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $85.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $65.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.15.

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

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 22nd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.48%.

Insider Transactions at CVS Health

In related news, Director Guy P. Sansone acquired 1,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $63.70 per share, with a total value of $100,009.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 12,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $764,845.90. The trade was a 15.04% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CVS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on CVS Health from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $84.00 price target (up from $76.00) on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on CVS Health from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of CVS Health from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.75.

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.