Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 7,345 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lowered its stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 283,069 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 7,345 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $22,351,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Convergence Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC now owns 8,829 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $697,000 after buying an additional 960 shares in the last quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. acquired a new position in CVS Health in the 4th quarter worth about $241,000. Sector Gamma AS acquired a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the fourth quarter valued at about $17,292,000. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the fourth quarter worth about $857,000. Finally, Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,849 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,725,000 after buying an additional 2,857 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on CVS. SVB Leerink assumed coverage on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $88.00 price target for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $87.00 price target on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on CVS Health from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on CVS Health from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of CVS Health in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $78.00 price target for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.44.

CVS Health Price Performance

CVS stock opened at $67.44 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The company’s 50-day moving average is $74.22 and its 200-day moving average is $73.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.01 billion, a PE ratio of 10.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.52. CVS Health Co. has a 1 year low of $64.41 and a 1 year high of $83.25.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.11. CVS Health had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 2.33%. The business had revenue of $93.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.99 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 8.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.94%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 41.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CVS Health

In other news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total transaction of $2,267,947.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,059,916.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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.