Royce & Associates LP Sells 49,000 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Royce & Associates LP trimmed its holdings in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 56.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 38,000 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 49,000 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $1,706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 255.7% during the fourth quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 626 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in CVS Health during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in CVS Health in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in CVS Health during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Trading Up 1.2 %

CVS stock opened at $68.71 on Friday. CVS Health Co. has a 12-month low of $43.56 and a 12-month high of $80.75. The business’s 50-day moving average is $60.22 and its 200 day moving average is $57.28. 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 market cap of $86.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.87%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CVS shares. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on CVS Health from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays boosted their price target on CVS Health from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on shares of CVS Health from 67.00 to 70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Michael F. Mahoney acquired 30,000 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $66.70 per share, for a total transaction of $2,001,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 39,356 shares in the company, valued at $2,625,045.20. This represents a 320.65 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 value of $498,487.55. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now 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. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.