Pacer Advisors Inc. Decreases Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Pacer Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 89.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 617,156 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 5,504,982 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $36,449,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 0.5% in the 4th 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 during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 43,776,874 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,491,643,000 after purchasing an additional 3,232,172 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 12.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,917,923 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,024,334,000 after acquiring an additional 4,226,225 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,143,822 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,048,351,000 after acquiring an additional 184,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 132.9% during the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 12,936,388 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $764,023,000 after acquiring an additional 7,382,931 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE CVS opened at $57.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $58.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.52. CVS Health Co. has a 52-week low of $52.77 and a 52-week high of $83.25. The company has a market cap of $72.20 billion, a PE ratio of 10.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.53.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $91.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.41 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.98% and a return on equity of 12.72%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.21 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 6.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.63%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is 46.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Baird R W upgraded shares of CVS Health to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $101.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Robert W. Baird began coverage on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $61.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $68.00 price target on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CVS Health currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.10.

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.