Park Avenue Securities LLC Buys 827 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 3.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,985 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 827 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $2,152,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CVS. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of CVS Health in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,092,040,000. Capital International Investors grew its stake in CVS Health by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 33,691,698 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,660,298,000 after buying an additional 10,837,801 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in CVS Health by 306.6% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,046,216 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $240,529,000 after buying an additional 2,297,100 shares in the last quarter. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new position in CVS Health in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $111,209,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in CVS Health by 8,697.2% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,322,129 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $104,395,000 after buying an additional 1,307,100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Edward J. Ludwig acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $53.88 per share, for a total transaction of $53,880.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 21,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,165,424.40. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on CVS. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of CVS Health from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price target (down from $90.00) on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. TD Cowen lowered shares of CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $99.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. SVB Leerink restated a “market perform” rating and set a $60.00 price target (down from $87.00) on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $85.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.05.

CVS Health Stock Performance

CVS Health stock opened at $61.37 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $60.47 and a 200-day moving average of $70.66. The firm has a market cap of $77.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.53. CVS Health Co. has a 1-year low of $52.77 and a 1-year high of $83.25.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.38). The firm had revenue of $88.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.33 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 13.53% and a net margin of 2.03%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.20 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 7.02 EPS for the current year.

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.