Palisade Asset Management LLC Lowers Stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Palisade Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 49.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,227 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 3,182 shares during the quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CVS. 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 worth $764,023,000 after buying an additional 7,382,931 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake in CVS Health by 5,864.2% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,730,343 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $108,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,701,331 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 402.5% in the 2nd quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 2,005,677 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $118,455,000 after purchasing an additional 1,606,500 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of CVS Health in the first quarter worth $110,816,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 33.5% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,289,788 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $310,722,000 after purchasing an additional 1,327,855 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CVS shares. TD Cowen raised CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group raised their price target on CVS Health from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised CVS Health from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $66.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.28.

CVS Health Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of CVS Health stock opened at $58.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a fifty day moving average of $59.21 and a 200 day moving average of $58.61. The company has a market capitalization of $73.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.55. CVS Health Co. has a fifty-two week low of $52.71 and a fifty-two week high of $83.25.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.01. CVS Health had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 1.36%. The company had revenue of $95.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.21 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 5.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.59%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 67.51%.

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.