Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Has $26.61 Million Stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lessened its holdings in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 592,826 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 5,815 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $26,612,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the 3rd quarter worth $1,369,000. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in CVS Health during the third quarter worth about $409,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in CVS Health by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 224,248 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $14,101,000 after buying an additional 13,120 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in CVS Health by 27.8% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,400 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,084,000 after acquiring an additional 3,788 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its position in CVS Health by 28.7% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 46,938 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,951,000 after purchasing an additional 10,465 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CVS shares. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Leerink Partners raised CVS Health from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Edward Jones upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of CVS Health from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.94.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of CVS opened at $68.86 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.43. CVS Health Co. has a 12 month low of $43.56 and a 12 month high of $71.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.57.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released 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 return on equity of 9.11% and a net margin of 1.24%. As a group, analysts predict 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 will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael F. Mahoney bought 30,000 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $66.70 per share, for a total transaction of $2,001,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,625,045.20. This represents a 320.65 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total value of $498,487.55. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $556,941.90. This trade represents a 47.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.