Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP Sells 474 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP trimmed its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,393 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 474 shares during the period. Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $584,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atticus Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 149.0% during the fourth quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 366 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in CVS Health by 111.5% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 461 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in CVS Health by 400.0% during the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners grew its stake in CVS Health by 42.6% in the fourth quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 539 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health during the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CVS shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of CVS Health from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Leerink Partnrs restated an “outperform” rating on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Monday, February 26th. SVB Leerink assumed coverage on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on CVS Health from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.44.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of CVS Health stock traded down $0.74 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $67.76. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,650,023 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,731,002. CVS Health Co. has a 52 week low of $64.41 and a 52 week high of $83.25. The firm has a market cap of $85.41 billion, a PE ratio of 10.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $74.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.11. CVS Health had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The firm had revenue of $93.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.99 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.93%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is 41.18%.

Insider Activity at CVS Health

In other news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total transaction of $2,267,947.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 39,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,059,916.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.