Drexel Morgan & Co. Buys 400,000 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Drexel Morgan & Co. increased its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 199.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 600,165 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 400,000 shares during the period. CVS Health makes up approximately 5.6% of Drexel Morgan & Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Drexel Morgan & Co.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $26,941,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Stevens Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health in the 4th quarter valued at $1,426,000. Simplify Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in CVS Health in the fourth quarter valued at about $409,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of CVS Health in the fourth quarter worth about $24,169,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 119,269 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $5,354,000 after purchasing an additional 37,696 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,536,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at CVS Health

In other news, Director Michael F. Mahoney bought 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $66.70 per share, with a total value of $2,001,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 39,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,625,045.20. This trade represents a 320.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total value of $498,487.55. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $556,941.90. This trade represents a 47.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CVS Health Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:CVS opened at $67.22 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.35. The company has a market capitalization of $84.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.81. CVS Health Co. has a 52-week low of $43.56 and a 52-week high of $80.75.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CVS shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wolfe Research upped their target price on shares of CVS Health from 67.00 to 70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Leerink Partners upgraded CVS Health from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on CVS Health from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on CVS Health from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.39.

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.