Handelsbanken Fonder AB Raises Stock Holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 14.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 557,756 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 69,594 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $44,040,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Weik Capital Management grew its holdings in CVS Health by 0.7% in the first quarter. Weik Capital Management now owns 17,600 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,781,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. FCA Corp TX grew its holdings in CVS Health by 0.6% in the first quarter. FCA Corp TX now owns 20,109 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,035,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Arvest Trust Co. N A grew its holdings in CVS Health by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Arvest Trust Co. N A now owns 11,157 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,040,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. grew its holdings in CVS Health by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 2,859 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apella Capital LLC grew its holdings in CVS Health by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 3,378 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at CVS Health

In related news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total transaction of $2,267,947.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 39,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,059,916.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays began coverage on CVS Health in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $78.00 target price on the stock. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on CVS Health in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on CVS Health from $83.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on CVS Health from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.44.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of CVS opened at $69.75 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $87.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.80, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $75.29 and a 200-day moving average of $73.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. CVS Health Co. has a 52 week low of $64.41 and a 52 week high of $83.25.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $93.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.58 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 2.33%. The business’s revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.99 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 8.32 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.18%.

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.