CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Shares Sold by Lafayette Investments Inc.

Lafayette Investments Inc. reduced its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,050 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 450 shares during the period. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $557,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 55.9% in the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 17,729 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,400,000 after acquiring an additional 6,357 shares during the last quarter. SFE Investment Counsel lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. SFE Investment Counsel now owns 64,883 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $5,123,000 after acquiring an additional 4,431 shares during the last quarter. NBW Capital LLC acquired a new position in CVS Health in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Twin Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 34,662 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,737,000 after acquiring an additional 5,335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HF Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 35.4% in the fourth quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,100,000 after acquiring an additional 3,643 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CVS Health news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total transaction of $2,267,947.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 39,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,059,916.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on CVS shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $87.00 price target on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. HSBC started coverage on CVS Health in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. Barclays started coverage on CVS Health in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $78.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on CVS Health from $83.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on CVS Health from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.44.

CVS Health Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE:CVS traded up $1.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $69.77. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,272,086 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,777,230. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $75.42 and a 200-day moving average of $73.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. CVS Health Co. has a 52-week low of $64.41 and a 52-week high of $83.25.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $93.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.58 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 2.33%. CVS Health’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.99 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 8.32 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 41.18%.

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.