Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. Reduces Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. lowered its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 20.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,992 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 18,799 shares during the period. Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $3,277,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 410,001 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $25,781,000 after purchasing an additional 36,132 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted 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 worth $2,951,000 after acquiring an additional 10,465 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in CVS Health by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,434,476 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $90,200,000 after acquiring an additional 66,244 shares during the period. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in CVS Health by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 134,523 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $8,459,000 after acquiring an additional 10,453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hall Laurie J Trustee boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 25,484.4% during the fourth quarter. Hall Laurie J Trustee now owns 11,513 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $517,000 after purchasing an additional 11,468 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CVS opened at $64.54 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.40. The company has a market cap of $81.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.63, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.81. CVS Health Co. has a one year low of $43.56 and a one year high of $80.75.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.12%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on CVS shares. Leerink Partners upgraded CVS Health from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $55.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report 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 for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CVS Health currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.00.

Insider Transactions at CVS Health

In other CVS Health news, Director Michael F. Mahoney bought 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $66.70 per share, with a total value of $2,001,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,625,045.20. This trade represents a 320.65 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

About CVS Health

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.