8,138 Shares in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Bought by Vest Financial LLC

Vest Financial LLC bought a new stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 8,138 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $512,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors lifted its stake 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 last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 12.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 4,226,225 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted 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 valued at $1,048,351,000 after acquiring an additional 184,297 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in CVS Health by 132.9% in the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 12,936,388 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $764,023,000 after purchasing an additional 7,382,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in CVS Health by 5.9% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,963,508 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $555,406,000 after purchasing an additional 389,166 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Trading Down 3.6 %

NYSE:CVS opened at $58.18 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.32. CVS Health Co. has a 12 month low of $52.77 and a 12 month high of $83.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.22, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $91.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $91.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.21 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 6.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.57%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen raised CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Barclays upgraded shares of CVS Health from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $63.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $68.00 price target on shares of CVS Health in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on CVS Health from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on CVS Health from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.26.

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.