Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Cuts Stock Holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System trimmed its position in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 67,700 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 3,100 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $3,039,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in CVS Health by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 410,001 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $25,781,000 after acquiring an additional 36,132 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in CVS Health by 28.7% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 46,938 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,951,000 after acquiring an additional 10,465 shares in the last quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. increased its holdings in CVS Health by 43.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 122,682 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $7,125,000 after acquiring an additional 37,395 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in CVS Health by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,434,476 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $90,200,000 after acquiring an additional 66,244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in CVS Health by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 134,523 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $8,459,000 after acquiring an additional 10,453 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CVS Health Trading Up 4.9 %

NYSE CVS opened at $66.35 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $50.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.94. CVS Health Co. has a 12 month low of $43.56 and a 12 month high of $80.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.84, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.61.

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

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CVS shares. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of CVS Health from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on shares of CVS Health from 67.00 to 70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of CVS Health from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of CVS Health from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned 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 $70.28.

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.