CENTRAL TRUST Co Sells 10,283 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

CENTRAL TRUST Co decreased its position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 35.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,972 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 10,283 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $1,193,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CVS. Romano Brothers AND Company increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 103,617 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $6,515,000 after acquiring an additional 4,966 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 8,947.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,145,849 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $72,051,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133,184 shares in the last quarter. SOL Capital Management CO lifted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 14.6% during the third quarter. SOL Capital Management CO now owns 71,142 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $4,473,000 after purchasing an additional 9,075 shares during the last quarter. McAdam LLC bought a new stake in shares of CVS Health in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $274,000. Finally, Searle & CO. increased its position in CVS Health by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Searle & CO. now owns 28,130 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,769,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of CVS stock opened at $56.49 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.14. The stock has a market cap of $71.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.54. CVS Health Co. has a 12 month low of $52.77 and a 12 month high of $83.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $91.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $91.41 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 12.72% and a net margin of 1.98%. CVS Health’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.21 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.71%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 47.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on CVS Health from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 price target on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target 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. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CVS Health presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.58.

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.