Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes $116.03 Million Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 2,584,830 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $116,033,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 410,001 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $25,781,000 after acquiring an additional 36,132 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $2,951,000 after acquiring an additional 10,465 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $90,200,000 after acquiring an additional 66,244 shares during the last quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $8,459,000 after acquiring an additional 10,453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hall Laurie J Trustee lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 25,484.4% in the 4th quarter. Hall Laurie J Trustee now owns 11,513 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $517,000 after acquiring an additional 11,468 shares during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at CVS Health

In related news, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were 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 approximately $556,941.90. This trade represents a 47.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael F. Mahoney purchased 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $66.70 per share, for a total transaction of $2,001,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 39,356 shares in the company, valued at $2,625,045.20. This represents a 320.65 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of CVS opened at $66.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $56.42 and a 200-day moving average of $56.75. The company has a market cap of $83.64 billion, a PE ratio of 18.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. CVS Health Co. has a one year low of $43.56 and a one year high of $80.75.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 research analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.01%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 72.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on CVS shares. Evercore ISI raised their target price on CVS Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Edward Jones raised CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Leerink Partnrs raised CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Argus set a $77.00 target price on CVS Health in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.83.

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.