Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS – Free Report) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,565,389 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after buying an additional 146,378 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.82% of CVS Health worth $834,243,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CVS. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of CVS Health by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,162,626 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $8,180,295,000 after purchasing an additional 485,744 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 29.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 27,487,238 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,919,159,000 after acquiring an additional 6,194,441 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in CVS Health by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,214,296 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $992,442,000 after acquiring an additional 305,564 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in CVS Health by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,136,920 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $987,041,000 after purchasing an additional 303,512 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of CVS Health in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,092,040,000. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of research firms recently issued reports on CVS. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on CVS Health from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of CVS Health from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $87.00 to $58.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of CVS Health from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $76.75.
Get Our Latest Report on CVS Health
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, Director Edward J. Ludwig purchased 1,000 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $53.88 per share, with a total value of $53,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,165,424.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.
CVS Health Stock Performance
CVS traded down $0.27 on Monday, reaching $57.41. The company had a trading volume of 11,474,185 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,924,750. CVS Health Co. has a fifty-two week low of $53.70 and a fifty-two week high of $83.25. The stock has a market cap of $72.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s fifty day moving average is $69.06 and its 200 day moving average is $72.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.81.
CVS Health (NYSE:CVS – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.38). The firm had revenue of $88.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.33 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.53%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.20 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 7.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
CVS Health Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd were issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.63%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 19th. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.75%.
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.
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