Sheets Smith Wealth Management Purchases 43,426 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management lifted its position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 68.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 107,301 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after buying an additional 43,426 shares during the period. CVS Health makes up about 1.0% of Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $8,472,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 27,487,238 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,919,159,000 after purchasing an additional 6,194,441 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 8,697.2% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,322,129 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $104,395,000 after buying an additional 1,307,100 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of CVS Health by 49.9% in the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,095,978 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $146,341,000 after acquiring an additional 698,054 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in CVS Health by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,513,230 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $435,325,000 after acquiring an additional 616,785 shares during the period. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in CVS Health during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,379,000. Institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Edward J. Ludwig acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $53.88 per share, with a total value of $53,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,165,424.40. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Edward J. Ludwig acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $53.88 per share, with a total value of $53,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,630 shares in the company, valued at $1,165,424.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total value of $2,267,947.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 39,765 shares in the company, valued at $3,059,916.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on CVS. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on CVS Health from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of CVS Health from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. SVB Leerink restated a “market perform” rating and set a $60.00 target price (down from $87.00) on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays dropped their target price on CVS Health from $78.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on CVS Health from $86.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CVS Health presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.35.

CVS Health Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of CVS stock traded up $0.75 on Friday, hitting $55.90. The stock had a trading volume of 23,946,075 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,498,538. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $72.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.29. CVS Health Co. has a 1 year low of $53.70 and a 1 year high of $83.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.63.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.38). The business had revenue of $88.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.33 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 13.53% and a net margin of 2.03%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.20 EPS. Analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd were issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.76%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.