CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Shares Bought by Palouse Capital Management Inc.

Palouse Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,747 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,896 shares during the period. CVS Health accounts for about 1.5% of Palouse Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Palouse Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $2,112,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in CVS Health during the 4th quarter worth $262,000. Zhang Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 7,617 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $601,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240 shares during the last quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $219,000. HTLF Bank acquired a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the fourth quarter worth $353,000. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 55.9% in the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 17,729 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,400,000 after acquiring an additional 6,357 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on CVS shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Leerink Partnrs restated an “outperform” rating on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Barclays began coverage on CVS Health in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $78.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, SVB Leerink initiated coverage on CVS Health in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $88.00 price objective for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.44.

CVS Health Stock Performance

CVS Health stock traded up $1.02 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $69.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,771,294 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,854,582. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $75.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.70. CVS Health Co. has a 1-year low of $64.41 and a 1-year high of $83.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The company has a market cap of $87.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.80, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.52.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.11. CVS Health had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The company had revenue of $93.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 8.32 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.18%.

Insider Transactions at CVS Health

In other news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total transaction of $2,267,947.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 39,765 shares in the company, valued at $3,059,916.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.