Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Purchases 11,955 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 7.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 165,314 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after buying an additional 11,955 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $7,421,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CVS. Davis Selected Advisers lifted its position in shares of CVS Health by 2,998.1% in the fourth quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 11,385,950 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $511,115,000 after purchasing an additional 11,018,438 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its position in CVS Health by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 11,897,034 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $748,085,000 after buying an additional 3,071,613 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health during the 4th quarter worth about $116,033,000. ARGA Investment Management LP grew its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 7,567.7% in the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 2,402,901 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $107,866,000 after acquiring an additional 2,371,563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in shares of CVS Health by 3.6% in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total transaction of $498,487.55. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $556,941.90. This trade represents a 47.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Michael F. Mahoney acquired 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $66.70 per share, with a total value of $2,001,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 39,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,625,045.20. This represents a 320.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CVS Health Stock Down 0.4 %

CVS opened at $64.98 on Wednesday. CVS Health Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.56 and a fifty-two week high of $80.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $57.24 and a 200-day moving average of $56.83. The company has a market capitalization of $81.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.53.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.30. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.24% and a return on equity of 9.11%. On average, equities analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 23rd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on CVS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on CVS Health from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Leerink Partners raised shares of CVS Health from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.83.

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.