Canal Insurance CO Purchases 30,000 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Canal Insurance CO grew its holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 15.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 230,000 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,000 shares during the period. CVS Health makes up 2.7% of Canal Insurance CO’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Canal Insurance CO’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $10,325,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of CVS Health during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 255.7% during the 4th quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 626 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in CVS Health in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in CVS Health during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on CVS. StockNews.com lowered CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded CVS Health from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $60.00 to $66.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of CVS Health from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of CVS Health from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.12.

CVS Health Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE CVS opened at $56.20 on Tuesday. CVS Health Co. has a 52-week low of $43.56 and a 52-week high of $80.75. 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 stock has a market cap of $70.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $51.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.20.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $92.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.21 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 5.22 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.73%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is presently 67.51%.

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.