National Pension Service Purchases 421,416 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

National Pension Service grew its stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,843,402 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 421,416 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.23% of CVS Health worth $178,793,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cullinan Associates Inc. lifted its position in CVS Health by 43.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 122,682 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $7,125,000 after acquiring an additional 37,395 shares during the period. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $57,584,000. CX Institutional lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 698.0% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 74,609 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $4,691,000 after acquiring an additional 65,259 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 27.9% in the second quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 665,451 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $39,302,000 after acquiring an additional 145,158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its stake in CVS Health by 11.0% during the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,537,791 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $96,696,000 after purchasing an additional 151,901 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CVS Health Price Performance

CVS opened at $54.65 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $59.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $68.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.55. CVS Health Co. has a 1 year low of $52.77 and a 1 year high of $83.25.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.10. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.98% and a return on equity of 12.72%. The company had revenue of $91.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.21 earnings per share. CVS Health’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.87%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CVS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays dropped their target price on CVS Health from $82.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen upgraded CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $59.00 to $85.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $66.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.11.

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.