Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. Invests $516,000 in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. bought a new position in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 11,500 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $516,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 3.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,527,909 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,554,475,000 after purchasing an additional 1,989,066 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,361,673 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,651,997,000 after acquiring an additional 461,569 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 1.5% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 13,135,308 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $825,948,000 after acquiring an additional 198,920 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in CVS Health by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,918,949 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $579,932,000 after purchasing an additional 710,281 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 11,897,034 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $748,085,000 after purchasing an additional 3,071,613 shares during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CVS Health Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of CVS Health stock opened at $66.34 on Friday. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $56.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.75. CVS Health Co. has a 12-month low of $43.56 and a 12-month high of $80.75. The company has a market capitalization of $83.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 23rd. CVS Health’s payout ratio is presently 72.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on CVS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Leerink Partnrs raised CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada cut 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 note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of CVS Health from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.83.

Insider Activity

In other CVS Health news, Director Michael F. Mahoney acquired 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total value of $498,487.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,394 shares in the company, valued at $556,941.90. This represents a 47.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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.