CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Shares Purchased by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,051,540 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 689,867 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $1,211,582,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in CVS Health in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,369,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 7.4% in the third quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 20,734 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,304,000 after purchasing an additional 1,437 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in CVS Health during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,109,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in CVS Health in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $341,000. Finally, Atom Investors LP acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health in the third quarter worth $1,273,000. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CVS Health news, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total transaction of $498,487.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $556,941.90. This represents a 47.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael F. Mahoney bought 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $66.70 per share, for a total transaction of $2,001,000.00. Following the acquisition, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded CVS Health from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Leerink Partnrs raised CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Leerink Partners raised shares of CVS Health from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $55.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Edward Jones upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.39.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CVS opened at $67.88 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $85.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. CVS Health Co. has a twelve month low of $43.56 and a twelve month high of $75.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $62.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 1.24% and a return on equity of 9.11%. On average, research analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 22nd. CVS Health’s dividend 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.