Eastern Bank Lowers Stock Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Eastern Bank reduced its stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 25.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,910 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 7,017 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $939,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CVS. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 410,001 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $25,781,000 after acquiring an additional 36,132 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 28.7% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 46,938 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,951,000 after acquiring an additional 10,465 shares during the last quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 43.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 122,682 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $7,125,000 after acquiring an additional 37,395 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,434,476 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $90,200,000 after acquiring an additional 66,244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 134,523 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $8,459,000 after acquiring an additional 10,453 shares during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of CVS stock opened at $51.54 on Tuesday. CVS Health Co. has a one year low of $43.56 and a one year high of $80.75. The company’s 50-day moving average is $51.76 and its 200 day moving average is $56.49. The company has a market capitalization of $64.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.80.

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

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 23rd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of CVS Health from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock 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.