Swiss National Bank Sells 171,000 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Swiss National Bank lessened its stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,553,760 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 171,000 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned 0.28% of CVS Health worth $159,528,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,527,909 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,554,475,000 after acquiring an additional 1,989,066 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,361,673 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,651,997,000 after acquiring an additional 461,569 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 49.3% during the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 19,610,579 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $880,319,000 after acquiring an additional 6,475,271 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,918,949 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $579,932,000 after acquiring an additional 710,281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 11,897,034 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $748,085,000 after acquiring an additional 3,071,613 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Trading Up 1.5 %

CVS Health stock opened at $65.79 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $58.07 and a 200-day moving average of $56.93. CVS Health Co. has a one year low of $43.56 and a one year high of $80.75. 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 company has a market cap of $82.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.53.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.30. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.24% and a return on equity of 9.11%. On average, equities analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.04%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 72.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on CVS. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wolfe Research boosted their price target on shares of CVS Health from 67.00 to 70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of CVS Health from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of CVS Health from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of CVS Health from $72.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CVS Health currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.83.

Insider Activity

In other CVS Health news, 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,394 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael F. Mahoney acquired 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 39,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,625,045.20. The trade was a 320.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.