Empirical Finance LLC Acquires 939 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Empirical Finance LLC raised its holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 44,629 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after buying an additional 939 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $2,806,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 8.0% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 43,776,874 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,491,643,000 after acquiring an additional 3,232,172 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in CVS Health by 12.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,917,923 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,024,334,000 after purchasing an additional 4,226,225 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in CVS Health by 1.4% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,143,822 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,048,351,000 after buying an additional 184,297 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 132.9% in the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 12,936,388 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $764,023,000 after buying an additional 7,382,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 5.9% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,963,508 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $555,406,000 after buying an additional 389,166 shares during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CVS Health Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE CVS opened at $54.88 on Friday. CVS Health Co. has a 12 month low of $52.77 and a 12 month high of $83.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.99, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The business has a 50-day moving average of $59.41 and a 200-day moving average of $58.79.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $95.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.72 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.21 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st were issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.85%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 67.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CVS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of CVS Health from $75.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $68.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on CVS Health from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CVS Health currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.00.

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.