Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Has $1.11 Million Holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 39.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 24,635 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 16,194 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $1,106,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CVS Health news, Director Michael F. Mahoney purchased 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $66.70 per share, for a total transaction of $2,001,000.00. Following 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on CVS Health from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on CVS Health from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $55.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Edward Jones upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.39.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of CVS opened at $67.54 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.40. CVS Health Co. has a 52-week low of $43.56 and a 52-week high of $80.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.15 billion, a PE ratio of 18.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share (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%. Sell-side analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.94%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.68%.

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.