Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. Increases Stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 38.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,168 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the period. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $52,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CVS. State Street Corp boosted 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 worth $3,554,475,000 after purchasing an additional 1,989,066 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in 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 worth $1,651,997,000 after acquiring an additional 461,569 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in CVS Health by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 13,135,308 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $825,948,000 after acquiring an additional 198,920 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in CVS Health by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,208,668 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $767,681,000 after acquiring an additional 304,386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in CVS Health by 34.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,071,613 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on CVS. Evercore ISI increased their price target on CVS Health from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays dropped their price target 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded 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. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on CVS Health from $72.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of CVS Health from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $66.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CVS Health has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.71.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of CVS Health stock opened at $50.82 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.44. The company has a market cap of $63.95 billion, a PE ratio of 12.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.59. CVS Health Co. has a one year low of $43.56 and a one year high of $80.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.80.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.21 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 5.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.23%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 23rd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.51%.

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.