CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Stock Position Decreased by Meridian Financial LLC

Meridian Financial LLC decreased its position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 18.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,457 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 1,274 shares during the quarter. Meridian Financial LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $245,000 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. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in CVS Health by 9.7% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 410,001 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $25,781,000 after buying an additional 36,132 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 28.7% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 46,938 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,951,000 after purchasing an additional 10,465 shares during the last quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. boosted its position in CVS Health by 43.8% during the third quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 122,682 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $7,125,000 after purchasing an additional 37,395 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in CVS Health by 4.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,434,476 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $90,200,000 after purchasing an additional 66,244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 8.4% in the third quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 134,523 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $8,459,000 after purchasing an additional 10,453 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CVS opened at $52.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $51.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.34. CVS Health Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.56 and a fifty-two week high of $80.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.59.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $95.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.72 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.21 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 5.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.05%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on CVS Health from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded CVS Health from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $66.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on CVS Health from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.71.

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.