Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Has $4.45 Million Stock Holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System trimmed its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 0.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 70,800 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $4,452,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 10.7% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 17,613 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,108,000 after acquiring an additional 1,706 shares during the period. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 57.6% during the third quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC now owns 5,473 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Cullinan Associates Inc. grew its position in CVS Health by 43.8% in the third quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 122,682 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $7,125,000 after purchasing an additional 37,395 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Financial Services LLC grew its position in CVS Health by 3.5% in the third quarter. Heritage Financial Services LLC now owns 8,814 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $554,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated grew its position in CVS Health by 65.7% in the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 6,379 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 2,530 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. TD Cowen raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $59.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of CVS Health from $82.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CVS Health currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.58.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of CVS Health stock opened at $56.49 on Friday. CVS Health Co. has a twelve month low of $52.77 and a twelve month high of $83.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.54.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.10. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.98% and a return on equity of 12.72%. The business had revenue of $91.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.41 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.21 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 6.41 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be given a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. CVS Health’s payout ratio is presently 47.33%.

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.