Groupama Asset Managment Sells 20,410 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Groupama Asset Managment decreased its holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 25.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 59,697 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 20,410 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $2,623,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 3.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,527,909 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,554,475,000 after buying an additional 1,989,066 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in CVS Health by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,051,540 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,211,582,000 after acquiring an additional 689,867 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in CVS Health by 49.3% in the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 19,610,579 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $880,319,000 after acquiring an additional 6,475,271 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the 4th quarter valued at $839,574,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,918,949 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $579,932,000 after purchasing an additional 710,281 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Michael F. Mahoney bought 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $66.70 per share, for a total transaction of $2,001,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,625,045.20. The trade was 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 stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total transaction of $498,487.55. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $556,941.90. This 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 company insiders.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of CVS opened at $67.88 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $62.72 and a 200-day moving average of $57.83. 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 company has a market capitalization of $85.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. CVS Health Co. has a 1 year low of $43.56 and a 1 year high of $75.27.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, equities research analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 22nd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on CVS. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $55.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Argus set a $77.00 price target on shares of CVS Health in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.39.

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.