Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Boosts Stock Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,494,378 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 51,652 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.12% of CVS Health worth $67,083,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CVS. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health during the fourth quarter worth about $839,574,000. Davis Selected Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 2,998.1% in the 4th quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 11,385,950 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $511,115,000 after buying an additional 11,018,438 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in CVS Health by 49.3% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 19,610,579 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $880,319,000 after acquiring an additional 6,475,271 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its position in CVS Health by 34.8% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 11,897,034 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $748,085,000 after acquiring an additional 3,071,613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in CVS Health in the fourth quarter valued at $116,033,000. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on shares of CVS Health from 67.00 to 70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on CVS Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com raised CVS Health from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays upped their target price on CVS Health from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CVS Health has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.39.

Insider Activity

In other CVS Health news, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael F. Mahoney bought 30,000 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $66.70 per share, for a total transaction 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 approximately $2,625,045.20. This represents a 320.65 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Trading Up 0.6 %

CVS stock opened at $67.59 on Friday. CVS Health Co. has a 52 week low of $43.56 and a 52 week high of $80.75. The company has a market cap of $85.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.47, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.60.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 research analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders 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 3.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.68%.

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.