Advisors Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 12.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 203,135 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,082 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $9,119,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,434,476 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $90,200,000 after acquiring an additional 66,244 shares during the last quarter. Hall Laurie J Trustee raised its position in CVS Health by 25,484.4% in the 4th quarter. Hall Laurie J Trustee now owns 11,513 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $517,000 after purchasing an additional 11,468 shares during the period. B&D White Capital Company LLC bought a new stake in CVS Health in the fourth quarter worth $417,000. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC now owns 7,302 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $334,000 after buying an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seizert Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 22.8% in the fourth quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 569,527 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $25,566,000 after buying an additional 105,708 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on CVS. Barclays raised their price target on CVS Health from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wolfe Research raised their target price on shares of CVS Health from 67.00 to 70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of CVS Health from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of CVS Health from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Four 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CVS Health currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.28.

CVS Health Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE CVS opened at $69.56 on Monday. CVS Health Co. has a 1 year low of $43.56 and a 1 year high of $71.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $65.10 and a 200 day moving average of $58.51. The stock has a market cap of $87.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.57.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 22nd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.68%.

CVS Health 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.