Norges Bank Acquires Shares of 18,702,928 CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 18,702,928 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $839,574,000. Norges Bank owned 1.49% of CVS Health as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of CVS Health during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC increased its holdings in CVS Health by 255.7% in the fourth quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 626 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CVS Health in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group dropped their price objective on CVS Health from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. 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 report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of CVS Health from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on CVS Health from $60.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CVS Health currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.39.

Insider Activity

In other CVS Health news, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 8,394 shares in the company, valued at $556,941.90. This represents a 47.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Michael F. Mahoney acquired 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $66.70 per share, with a total value of $2,001,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 39,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,625,045.20. This trade represents a 320.65 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of CVS Health stock opened at $67.59 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $85.22 billion, a PE ratio of 18.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. CVS Health Co. has a 52 week low of $43.56 and a 52 week high of $80.75.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share 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%. Equities analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.94%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.68%.

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.