Blue Trust Inc. Buys 5,426 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 56.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,099 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,426 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $678,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 34.8% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 11,897,034 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $748,085,000 after acquiring an additional 3,071,613 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,527,909 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,554,475,000 after purchasing an additional 1,989,066 shares during the last quarter. TOMS Capital Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $121,987,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 5,864.2% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,730,343 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $108,804,000 after buying an additional 1,701,331 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC boosted its stake in CVS Health by 1,470.2% in the third quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 1,396,464 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $87,810,000 after acquiring an additional 1,307,531 shares during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CVS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays reduced their target price on CVS Health from $75.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of CVS Health from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective 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. Finally, Edward Jones raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.12.

CVS Health Price Performance

NYSE CVS opened at $56.84 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $51.28 and its 200-day moving average is $56.17. 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 company has a market capitalization of $71.53 billion, a PE ratio of 14.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.59. CVS Health Co. has a 12-month low of $43.56 and a 12-month high of $80.75.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.01. The firm 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.21 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 5.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.68%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 23rd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.51%.

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.