Independent Advisor Alliance Has $1.48 Million Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Independent Advisor Alliance trimmed its position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 15.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 32,945 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 6,173 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $1,479,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in CVS Health by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 165,314 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $7,421,000 after purchasing an additional 11,955 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 21.8% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 318,089 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $14,279,000 after buying an additional 56,895 shares in the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 38,370 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,722,000 after buying an additional 5,689 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in CVS Health during the fourth quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in CVS Health by 19.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 7,059,915 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $324,246,000 after acquiring an additional 1,165,992 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CVS. Evercore ISI increased their target price on CVS Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Edward Jones upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Argus set a $77.00 price target on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CVS Health presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.83.

CVS Health Price Performance

CVS Health stock opened at $65.63 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $82.75 billion, a PE ratio of 17.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $58.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.00. CVS Health Co. has a 12 month low of $43.56 and a 12 month high of $80.75.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.30. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.24% and a return on equity of 9.11%. Analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.05%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 72.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.