Scharf Investments LLC Trims Stock Holdings in CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS)

Scharf Investments LLC lowered its position in shares of CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS) by 84.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 159,812 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 863,249 shares during the quarter. CVS Health comprises approximately 0.3% of Scharf Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Scharf Investments LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $10,827,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Activity at CVS Health

In other CVS Health news, Director Guy P. Sansone purchased 1,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $63.70 per share, for a total transaction of $100,009.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 12,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $764,845.90. The trade was a 15.04% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of CVS Health in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $51.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of CVS Health from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of CVS Health from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.75.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of CVS opened at $66.69 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.92, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.63. CVS Health Corporation has a one year low of $43.56 and a one year high of $72.51. The business has a fifty day moving average of $64.92 and a 200 day moving average of $60.45.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 10.59% and a net margin of 1.39%. The business had revenue of $94.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that CVS Health Corporation will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

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.