Brandes Investment Partners LP Reduces Holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Brandes Investment Partners LP trimmed its holdings in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,563,506 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 109,652 shares during the quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $70,186,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the third quarter worth $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of CVS Health in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 255.7% in the fourth quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 626 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of CVS Health in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of CVS Health in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at CVS Health

In other CVS Health news, Director Michael F. Mahoney bought 30,000 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $66.70 per share, with a total value of $2,001,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares in the company, valued at $2,625,045.20. This represents a 320.65 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total value of $498,487.55. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $556,941.90. The trade was a 47.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CVS opened at $65.63 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $58.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.00. The firm has a market cap of $82.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.53. CVS Health Co. has a 52 week low of $43.56 and a 52 week high of $80.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.30. CVS Health had a return on equity of 9.11% and a net margin of 1.24%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 23rd. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 72.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CVS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Argus set a $77.00 price objective on CVS Health in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com upgraded CVS Health from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on CVS Health from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on CVS Health from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.83.

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.