Vontobel Holding Ltd. Trims Stock Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 54.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 115,914 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 138,272 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $7,289,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position in CVS Health by 132.9% during the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 12,936,388 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $764,023,000 after acquiring an additional 7,382,931 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased 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 valued at $3,024,334,000 after purchasing an additional 4,226,225 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 8.0% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 43,776,874 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,491,643,000 after buying an additional 3,232,172 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its position in CVS Health by 402.5% during the second quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 2,005,677 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $118,455,000 after buying an additional 1,606,500 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new position in CVS Health in the first quarter valued at $110,816,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CVS shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays upgraded CVS Health from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $63.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 price target on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $59.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.26.

CVS Health Trading Down 2.1 %

CVS opened at $63.67 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.93 billion, a PE ratio of 11.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.86. CVS Health Co. has a one year low of $52.77 and a one year high of $83.25. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $59.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.75.

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

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st will be issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.75%.

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.