Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 290,712 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lessened its stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,454,693 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 290,712 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $155,081,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of CVS Health in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC lifted its position in CVS Health by 255.7% in the 4th quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 626 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in CVS Health during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of CVS Health in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of CVS Health in the third quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Stock Performance

CVS opened at $53.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $67.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.69, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.61. CVS Health Co. has a 1-year low of $43.56 and a 1-year high of $80.75. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $95.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.72 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 1.36%. CVS Health’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 posted $2.21 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.93%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CVS shares. Edward Jones upgraded CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. 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 research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of CVS Health from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $66.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of CVS Health from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on CVS Health from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One 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, CVS Health has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.12.

CVS Health 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.