Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Sells 70,595 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lowered its holdings in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 942,739 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 70,595 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $42,320,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted 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 last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in CVS Health in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $839,574,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake 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 during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CVS. UBS Group dropped their price target on CVS Health from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on CVS Health from 67.00 to 70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Edward Jones raised CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of CVS Health from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.39.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael F. Mahoney bought 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $66.70 per share, for a total transaction of $2,001,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares in the company, valued at $2,625,045.20. This represents a 320.65 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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. The trade was a 47.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CVS Health Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:CVS opened at $67.13 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $84.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.34, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. The business’s 50 day moving average is $62.12 and its 200 day moving average is $57.67. CVS Health Co. has a 12-month low of $43.56 and a 12-month high of $79.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

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

CVS Health Announces Dividend

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

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.