Delta Financial Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Delta Financial Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,748 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 572 shares during the period. Delta Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $2,507,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CVS. HF Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in CVS Health by 35.4% during the 4th quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,100,000 after buying an additional 3,643 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its stake in CVS Health by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 43,503 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,434,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in CVS Health by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 115,101 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $9,088,000 after buying an additional 6,899 shares during the period. Oakworth Capital Inc. increased its stake in CVS Health by 38.5% during the 4th quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 5,542 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $438,000 after buying an additional 1,540 shares during the period. Finally, Archer Investment Corp increased its stake in CVS Health by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 40,808 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,222,000 after buying an additional 2,730 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of CVS Health from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Leerink Partnrs reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of CVS Health in a report on Monday, February 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $87.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on CVS Health from $83.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, HSBC initiated coverage on CVS Health in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.44.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of CVS stock traded up $0.66 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $69.26. The stock had a trading volume of 3,292,574 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,799,277. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.63. CVS Health Co. has a twelve month low of $64.41 and a twelve month high of $83.25. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.30 billion, a PE ratio of 10.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.52.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.11. CVS Health had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The business had revenue of $93.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.99 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 8.32 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.84%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total value of $2,267,947.35. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 39,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,059,916.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.