Westpac Banking Corp Trims Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Westpac Banking Corp lowered its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 84.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,455 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 214,372 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $2,797,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 103,371.0% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,547,559 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,448,877,000 after purchasing an additional 15,532,533 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in CVS Health during the 4th quarter worth $1,425,416,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 696.4% in the 1st quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 5,464,700 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $406,082,000 after acquiring an additional 4,778,500 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 33,576,388 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,128,984,000 after acquiring an additional 3,311,928 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 31.0% during the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,666,949 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,015,591,000 after acquiring an additional 3,237,567 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.99% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CVS Health news, Director Edward J. Ludwig bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $70.47 per share, for a total transaction of $140,940.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 20,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,453,796.10. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CVS traded down $0.85 during trading on Thursday, reaching $68.28. The company had a trading volume of 1,512,018 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,690,112. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.87 billion, a PE ratio of 10.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.58. CVS Health Co. has a twelve month low of $64.41 and a twelve month high of $104.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $69.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $70.07.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $89.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.29 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 2.47% and a return on equity of 15.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 8.59 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 20th were issued a $0.605 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 19th. This represents a $2.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on CVS. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 2nd. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on CVS Health from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 1st. Barclays cut their price objective on CVS Health from $89.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. TheStreet upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $87.00 price target on shares of CVS Health in a report on Thursday, September 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.59.

About CVS Health

CVS Health Corporation provides health services in the United States. It operates through Health Care Benefits, Pharmacy Services, and Retail/LTC segments. The Health Care Benefits segment offers traditional, voluntary, and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services. It serves employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, health care providers, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups, and expatriates.