Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Sells 34,417 Shares of CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank reduced its stake in shares of CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS) by 10.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 283,672 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 34,417 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $19,219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Essex Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 0.8% during the first quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 20,705 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,403,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 32.6% during the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 707 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 1.0% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 17,114 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,159,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 3.7% during the first quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,930 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 7.4% during the first quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 2,610 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $177,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CVS shares. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of CVS Health from $51.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of CVS Health from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of CVS Health from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of CVS Health from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CVS Health presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.82.

CVS Health Price Performance

CVS stock opened at $59.65 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $64.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.74. CVS Health Corporation has a 52-week low of $43.56 and a 52-week high of $72.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.24, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.82.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.63. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.39% and a return on equity of 10.59%. The firm had revenue of $94.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.07 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that CVS Health Corporation will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 22nd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CVS Health

In other news, Director Guy P. Sansone purchased 1,570 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $63.70 per share, with a total value of $100,009.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 12,007 shares of the company’s stock, 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 hyperlink. 1.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.