Clearbridge Investments LLC Grows Stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 74.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,397,121 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after buying an additional 1,872,144 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $197,387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its holdings in CVS Health by 28.7% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 46,938 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,951,000 after purchasing an additional 10,465 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 4.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,434,476 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $90,200,000 after purchasing an additional 66,244 shares in the last quarter. Hall Laurie J Trustee lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 25,484.4% during the 4th quarter. Hall Laurie J Trustee now owns 11,513 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $517,000 after buying an additional 11,468 shares in the last quarter. B&D White Capital Company LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the fourth quarter worth about $417,000. Finally, TOMS Capital Investment Management LP bought a new stake in CVS Health in the 3rd quarter valued at $121,987,000. 80.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CVS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Argus set a $77.00 price objective on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Edward Jones raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on CVS Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on CVS Health from $60.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CVS Health presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.39.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total value of $498,487.55. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Michael F. Mahoney acquired 30,000 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost 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 in the company, valued at $2,625,045.20. The trade was a 320.65 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of CVS stock opened at $67.13 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $62.12 and a 200 day moving average of $57.68. CVS Health Co. has a 1 year low of $43.56 and a 1 year high of $79.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.34, 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.30. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.24% and a return on equity of 9.11%. As a group, research analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 22nd. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 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.