Rockland Trust Co. Reduces Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Rockland Trust Co. decreased its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 11.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,153 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 923 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $571,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in CVS Health by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,696,285 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $9,293,299,000 after buying an additional 533,659 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of CVS Health by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,544,702 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,201,410,000 after purchasing an additional 119,631 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of CVS Health by 47.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 33,691,698 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,660,298,000 after purchasing an additional 10,837,801 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of CVS Health by 2.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,214,296 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $992,442,000 after purchasing an additional 305,564 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of CVS Health by 2.2% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,136,920 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $987,041,000 after purchasing an additional 303,512 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CVS. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $66.00 price objective (down previously from $90.00) on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Barclays reduced their target price on CVS Health from $78.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. TD Cowen cut CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $99.00 to $59.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. SVB Leerink reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price (down previously from $87.00) on shares of CVS Health in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Leerink Partnrs cut CVS Health from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.05.

Insider Activity at CVS Health

In related news, Director Edward J. Ludwig bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $53.88 per share, with a total value of $53,880.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 21,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,165,424.40. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CVS Health Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:CVS opened at $61.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.81. CVS Health Co. has a one year low of $52.77 and a one year high of $83.25. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.66. The stock has a market cap of $77.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.53.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.38). The firm had revenue of $88.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.33 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.53%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.20 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 7.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About CVS Health

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.