Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. Has $2.71 Million Stock Holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 45,947 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 532 shares during the period. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $2,714,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,092,040,000. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in CVS Health by 47.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 33,691,698 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,660,298,000 after purchasing an additional 10,837,801 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 573.8% in the 1st quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 5,553,457 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $442,944,000 after purchasing an additional 4,729,207 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 8.0% during the 1st 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. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in CVS Health by 306.6% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,046,216 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $240,529,000 after buying an additional 2,297,100 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CVS Health Trading Up 0.5 %

CVS stock traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $57.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,188,057 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,181,803. The company has a market cap of $71.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.52. CVS Health Co. has a 12 month low of $52.77 and a 12 month high of $83.25. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $58.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released 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 net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.53%. The company had revenue of $91.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $91.41 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.21 EPS. CVS Health’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 7 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 22nd were paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 22nd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.65%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on CVS. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of CVS Health from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. TD Cowen cut CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $99.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Argus lowered their target price on CVS Health from $100.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Baird R W raised CVS Health to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CVS Health currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.24.

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.