Montecito Bank & Trust Increases Stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Montecito Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 22.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 17,190 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after buying an additional 3,178 shares during the period. Montecito Bank & Trust’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $1,081,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norden Group LLC grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 6,830 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $545,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health during the 1st quarter worth $536,000. Advisory Alpha LLC grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 3,753 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 131.5% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 5,281 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 46,735 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,728,000 after purchasing an additional 1,535 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Trading Up 11.3 %

Shares of CVS stock opened at $61.61 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $77.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.96, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.55. CVS Health Co. has a 1-year low of $52.77 and a 1-year high of $83.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.23.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $91.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $91.41 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.98% and a return on equity of 12.72%. The company’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.21 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 6.27 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.32%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is currently 47.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $68.00 price target on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $82.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.11.

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.