Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Sells 8,400 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 28.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,000 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 8,400 shares during the period. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $1,658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 103,371.0% during the 4th 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 buying an additional 15,532,533 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in CVS Health in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,425,416,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in CVS Health by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 27,487,238 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,919,159,000 after purchasing an additional 6,194,441 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in CVS Health by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 33,576,388 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,128,984,000 after purchasing an additional 3,311,928 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in CVS Health by 97.8% in the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,483,154 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $379,052,000 after purchasing an additional 2,711,102 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at CVS Health

In other news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total value of $2,267,947.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,059,916.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of CVS Health stock opened at $69.76 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $87.93 billion, a PE ratio of 10.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.52. CVS Health Co. has a 12-month low of $64.41 and a 12-month high of $83.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.77.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $93.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.58 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The company’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, equities analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 8.32 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on CVS. SVB Leerink began coverage on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $88.00 target price on the stock. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $78.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $83.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $87.00 price objective on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.44.

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.