Private Advisor Group LLC Sells 16,454 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Private Advisor Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 15.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 89,407 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 16,454 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $4,013,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in CVS Health during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of CVS Health in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 255.7% during the fourth quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 626 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in CVS Health in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CVS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research upped their target price on shares of CVS Health from 67.00 to 70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on CVS Health from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com upgraded CVS Health from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of CVS Health from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Four 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.00.

CVS Health Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of CVS stock opened at $63.42 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $52.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.20. CVS Health Co. has a 1 year low of $43.56 and a 1 year high of $80.75. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $79.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.33, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.61.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.19%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 72.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael F. Mahoney bought 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $66.70 per share, with a total value of $2,001,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 39,356 shares in the company, valued at $2,625,045.20. This trade represents a 320.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.