NEOS Investment Management LLC Raises Stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 31.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 77,773 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after buying an additional 18,667 shares during the quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $3,491,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CVS. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in CVS Health by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 261,194 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $16,424,000 after purchasing an additional 9,418 shares during the period. Fiduciary Trust Co increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 0.3% during the third quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 108,151 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $6,801,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 1.6% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 7,049,945 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $443,301,000 after acquiring an additional 107,977 shares in the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in CVS Health by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 56,446 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,465,000 after acquiring an additional 5,242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arete Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in CVS Health during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,369,000. 80.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CVS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Argus set a $77.00 price target on CVS Health in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group reduced 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. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.39.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 represents a 47.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Michael F. Mahoney purchased 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $66.70 per share, with a total value of $2,001,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 39,356 shares in the company, valued at $2,625,045.20. This represents a 320.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CVS opened at $67.13 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. CVS Health Co. has a twelve month low of $43.56 and a twelve month high of $79.98. The company’s 50 day moving average is $62.12 and its 200 day moving average is $57.67. The company has a market cap of $84.64 billion, a PE ratio of 18.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54.

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, topping the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.