Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Grows Stock Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 95,518 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,463 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in CVS Health were worth $4,380,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Davis Selected Advisers lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 2,998.1% in the fourth quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 11,385,950 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $511,115,000 after buying an additional 11,018,438 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in CVS Health by 49.3% in the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 19,610,579 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $880,319,000 after purchasing an additional 6,475,271 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 11,897,034 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $748,085,000 after purchasing an additional 3,071,613 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CVS Health in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $116,033,000. Finally, ARGA Investment Management LP lifted its position in CVS Health by 7,567.7% during the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 2,402,901 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $107,866,000 after buying an additional 2,371,563 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CVS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays raised their target price on CVS Health from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. 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, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of CVS Health from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of CVS Health from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CVS Health presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.39.

Insider Activity at CVS Health

In other news, Director Michael F. Mahoney acquired 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $66.70 per share, with a total value of $2,001,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 39,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,625,045.20. This trade represents a 320.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total value of $498,487.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,394 shares in the company, valued at $556,941.90. This trade represents a 47.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CVS Health Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of CVS stock opened at $66.54 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. CVS Health Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.56 and a fifty-two week high of $80.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $61.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.46.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.30. CVS Health had a return on equity of 9.11% and a net margin of 1.24%. Equities research analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.68%.

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.