State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 263,364 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D cut its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 36.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 464,243 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 263,364 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $27,418,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its position in shares of CVS Health by 8.0% in the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 17,105 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,010,000 after purchasing an additional 1,272 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in CVS Health by 11.9% in the 2nd quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,886 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC raised its holdings in CVS Health by 19,432.1% during the second quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 5,469 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 5,441 shares during the period. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 5.1% in the second quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 398,486 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $23,535,000 after acquiring an additional 19,188 shares during the period. Finally, Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of CVS Health by 10.8% during the second quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,231 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on CVS shares. Baird R W upgraded CVS Health to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on CVS Health from $101.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on CVS Health from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CVS Health currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.10.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of CVS stock opened at $57.53 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $58.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.30. CVS Health Co. has a 52-week low of $52.77 and a 52-week high of $83.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.54.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $91.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $91.41 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.98% and a return on equity of 12.72%. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.21 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Monday, July 22nd were issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 22nd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.62%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 46.75%.

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.