CENTRAL TRUST Co Lowers Stock Holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

CENTRAL TRUST Co reduced its position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 28.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 13,523 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 5,449 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $607,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 9.7% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 410,001 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $25,781,000 after acquiring an additional 36,132 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 28.7% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 46,938 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,951,000 after buying an additional 10,465 shares during the last quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 43.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 122,682 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $7,125,000 after acquiring an additional 37,395 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in CVS Health by 4.8% during 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. Finally, Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in CVS Health by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 134,523 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $8,459,000 after purchasing an additional 10,453 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CVS has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays cut their target price on CVS Health from $75.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded CVS Health from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $66.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. TD Cowen upped their target price on CVS Health from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of CVS Health from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CVS Health presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.12.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of CVS Health stock opened at $55.99 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $70.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.21, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.61. CVS Health Co. has a 1 year low of $43.56 and a 1 year high of $80.75. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $51.24 and its 200 day moving average is $56.13.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $95.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.72 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.21 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 23rd. CVS Health’s payout ratio is presently 67.51%.

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.