Legato Capital Management LLC Acquires 2,470 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Legato Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,914 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,470 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $1,253,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in CVS Health during the third quarter worth $25,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 255.7% during the 4th quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 626 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of CVS Health in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of CVS Health in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of CVS Health during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on CVS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com lowered CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on CVS Health from $72.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded CVS Health from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $66.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.78.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CVS opened at $63.23 on Thursday. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.56 and a fifty-two week high of $80.75. The stock has a market cap of $79.57 billion, a PE ratio of 16.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $50.61 and a 200-day moving average of $55.92.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.30. CVS Health had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 1.36%. Equities research analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 23rd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.51%.

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.