Poplar Forest Capital LLC Purchases 8,376 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Poplar Forest Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 2.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 382,472 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,376 shares during the period. CVS Health comprises 3.2% of Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $22,589,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in CVS Health by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,696,285 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $9,293,299,000 after purchasing an additional 533,659 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 3,232,172 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in CVS Health by 12.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,917,923 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,024,334,000 after purchasing an additional 4,226,225 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in CVS Health during the 4th quarter worth about $1,092,040,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in CVS Health by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,143,822 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,048,351,000 after purchasing an additional 184,297 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CVS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of CVS Health in a report on Monday, August 19th. Baird R W upgraded CVS Health to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays decreased their price objective on 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 note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of CVS Health from $101.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.48.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CVS traded down $0.32 during trading on Friday, hitting $57.75. 6,263,025 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,149,185. The business’s 50 day moving average is $58.29 and its 200-day moving average is $63.78. The company has a market capitalization of $72.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. CVS Health Co. has a 1-year low of $52.77 and a 1-year high of $83.25.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $91.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $91.41 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.98% and a return on equity of 12.72%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.21 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 22nd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.61%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.75%.

CVS Health 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.