DnB Asset Management AS Buys 11,483 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

DnB Asset Management AS grew its stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 219,374 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,483 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $9,848,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in CVS Health by 3.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,527,909 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,554,475,000 after acquiring an additional 1,989,066 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,361,673 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,651,997,000 after purchasing an additional 461,569 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in CVS Health by 49.3% in the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 19,610,579 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $880,319,000 after purchasing an additional 6,475,271 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in CVS Health in the 4th quarter valued at $839,574,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,918,949 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $579,932,000 after buying an additional 710,281 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CVS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of CVS Health from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of CVS Health from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Leerink Partners upgraded CVS Health from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on CVS Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CVS Health has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.39.

CVS Health Stock Performance

NYSE CVS opened at $67.13 on Friday. CVS Health Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.56 and a fifty-two week high of $79.98. The stock has a market cap of $84.64 billion, a PE ratio of 18.34, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $62.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.67.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.30. CVS Health had a return on equity of 9.11% and a net margin of 1.24%. On average, equities analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.96%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Michael F. Mahoney purchased 30,000 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $66.70 per share, for a total transaction of $2,001,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 39,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,625,045.20. This represents a 320.65 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total value of $498,487.55. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $556,941.90. This trade represents a 47.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.