LS Investment Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in CVS Health Corporation $CVS

LS Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 3,350 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CVS. Bell Investment Advisors Inc lifted its stake in CVS Health by 119.8% in the 1st quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 455 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 78.3% in the second quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC now owns 460 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new stake in shares of CVS Health in the first quarter worth about $34,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in CVS Health during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC increased its stake in CVS Health by 281.3% in the 1st quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 572 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Anne A. Finucane sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.02, for a total transaction of $532,650.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 22,156 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,573,519.12. This represents a 25.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CVS Health Stock Down 2.2%

NYSE:CVS opened at $74.71 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $94.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.62. CVS Health Corporation has a twelve month low of $43.56 and a twelve month high of $77.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.90.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $98.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.87 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 10.51% and a net margin of 1.17%.CVS Health’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. CVS Health has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.300-6.400 EPS. Analysts anticipate that CVS Health Corporation will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, October 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 23rd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CVS shares. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of CVS Health in a report on Monday, August 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of CVS Health from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $71.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Zacks Research cut CVS Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on CVS Health from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.25.

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.