Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. Cuts Stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 17.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,054 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 7,934 shares during the period. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $1,663,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in CVS Health by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 11,897,034 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $748,085,000 after purchasing an additional 3,071,613 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP grew its position in shares of CVS Health by 7,567.7% during the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 2,402,901 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $107,866,000 after buying an additional 2,371,563 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in CVS Health by 3.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,527,909 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,554,475,000 after acquiring an additional 1,989,066 shares in the last quarter. TOMS Capital Investment Management LP purchased a new position in CVS Health in the third quarter worth approximately $121,987,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of CVS Health by 5,864.2% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,730,343 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $108,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,701,331 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:CVS opened at $53.95 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.01. CVS Health Co. has a 12-month low of $43.56 and a 12-month high of $80.75. The firm has a market cap of $67.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.69, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.61.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $95.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.72 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 10.72%. CVS Health’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.21 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CVS. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $72.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 25th. StockNews.com downgraded CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Edward Jones upgraded CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of CVS Health from $75.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.12.

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.