Marino Stram & Associates LLC Sells 282 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Marino Stram & Associates LLC decreased its position in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,150 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 282 shares during the period. Marino Stram & Associates LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $276,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in CVS Health by 3.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,527,909 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,554,475,000 after acquiring an additional 1,989,066 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,361,673 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,651,997,000 after purchasing an additional 461,569 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 1.5% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 13,135,308 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $825,948,000 after purchasing an additional 198,920 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 2.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,208,668 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $767,681,000 after purchasing an additional 304,386 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 34.8% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 11,897,034 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $748,085,000 after purchasing an additional 3,071,613 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Stock Performance

CVS opened at $53.05 on Thursday. CVS Health Co. has a 52-week low of $43.56 and a 52-week high of $80.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $66.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.59. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $51.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.26.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.01. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The firm had revenue of $95.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.21 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 5.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.01%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CVS. StockNews.com lowered shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $75.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.71.

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.