Boston Research & Management Inc. Sells 27,982 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Boston Research & Management Inc. lowered its stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 45.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 33,908 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 27,982 shares during the period. Boston Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $1,522,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 185.1% during the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 31,313 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,406,000 after acquiring an additional 20,329 shares during the last quarter. Partners in Financial Planning bought a new position in shares of CVS Health during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $265,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in CVS Health by 74.1% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,397,121 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $197,387,000 after purchasing an additional 1,872,144 shares in the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 29.6% in the fourth quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 2,848,986 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $127,891,000 after buying an additional 650,832 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz SE bought a new position in shares of CVS Health in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,648,000. Institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CVS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Truist Financial increased their price objective on CVS Health from $60.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on CVS Health from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Argus set a $77.00 price target on CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CVS Health currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.39.

Insider Transactions at CVS Health

In other CVS Health news, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of CVS Health 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $556,941.90. This trade represents a 47.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Michael F. Mahoney bought 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired 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 directly owns 39,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,625,045.20. This represents a 320.65 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of CVS opened at $67.13 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.68. The stock has a market cap of $84.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.34, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. CVS Health Co. has a 52 week low of $43.56 and a 52 week high of $79.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

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, analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.