CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Stake Lessened by Signaturefd LLC

Signaturefd LLC lowered its holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,001 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 321 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $2,053,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Powell Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CVS Health in the fourth quarter valued at $208,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 35.3% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 9,013 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $712,000 after acquiring an additional 2,351 shares in the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 43.5% during the fourth quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,575 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $190,000 after acquiring an additional 781 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 18,267 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,442,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Palouse Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Palouse Capital Management Inc. now owns 26,747 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,112,000 after acquiring an additional 1,896 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Stock Performance

CVS stock traded up $1.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $69.75. 7,809,721 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,823,763. CVS Health Co. has a twelve month low of $64.41 and a twelve month high of $83.25. The company has a market capitalization of $87.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.11. CVS Health had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 2.33%. The business had revenue of $93.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.58 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 8.32 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $87.00 price objective on shares of CVS Health in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on CVS Health from $83.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com lowered CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. SVB Leerink assumed coverage on CVS Health in a report on Monday, February 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $88.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on CVS Health in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $78.00 target price on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CVS Health news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total transaction of $2,267,947.35. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,059,916.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.