Brandes Investment Partners LP Buys 126,930 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 8.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,653,045 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 126,930 shares during the quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $97,553,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CVS. Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 0.8% during the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 19,225 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,410,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 22,268 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,776,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Garland Capital Management Inc. grew its position in CVS Health by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Garland Capital Management Inc. now owns 60,810 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,591,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in CVS Health by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,203 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $894,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, Plimoth Trust Co. LLC lifted its position in CVS Health by 0.4% in the second quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC now owns 46,637 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,754,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CVS opened at $61.38 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.87. CVS Health Co. has a fifty-two week low of $52.77 and a fifty-two week high of $83.25. The company has a market capitalization of $77.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.53.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.10. CVS Health had a return on equity of 12.72% and a net margin of 1.98%. The business had revenue of $91.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.41 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.21 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 6.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.33%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CVS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of CVS Health from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on CVS Health from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.10.

CVS Health 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.