Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC Lowers Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 50.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 917 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 927 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $41,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 66,244 shares during the last quarter. Hall Laurie J Trustee lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 25,484.4% during the fourth quarter. Hall Laurie J Trustee now owns 11,513 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $517,000 after acquiring an additional 11,468 shares during the period. B&D White Capital Company LLC purchased a new position in CVS Health in the fourth quarter worth $417,000. Finally, Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC increased its position in shares of CVS Health by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC now owns 7,302 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Price Performance

CVS opened at $63.54 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $80.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.01. CVS Health Co. has a 12-month low of $43.56 and a 12-month high of $75.12.

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, 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%. Research analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 72.68%.

Insider Transactions at CVS Health

In other news, Director Michael F. Mahoney purchased 30,000 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $66.70 per share, with a total value of $2,001,000.00. Following the completion of 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CVS. Truist Financial boosted 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. Leerink Partners raised shares of CVS Health from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $55.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of CVS Health from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group decreased their target price on CVS Health from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.39.

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.