Persium Advisors LLC Invests $323,000 in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Persium Advisors LLC bought a new stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 7,190 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $323,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CVS. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in CVS Health by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,397 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $151,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in CVS Health by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,268 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $331,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted its stake in CVS Health by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,681 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC boosted its stake in CVS Health by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 27,625 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,737,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Widmann Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in CVS Health by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Widmann Financial Services Inc. now owns 11,506 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $724,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CVS Health Price Performance

CVS Health stock traded up $3.58 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $51.59. 21,027,576 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,418,590. The firm has a market cap of $64.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.55. CVS Health Co. has a 1-year low of $43.56 and a 1-year high of $80.75.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.01. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The firm had revenue of $95.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.21 EPS. CVS Health’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.16%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on CVS shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of CVS Health from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of CVS Health from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of CVS Health from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $66.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.71.

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.