138,850 Shares in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Acquired by Madison Investment Advisors LLC

Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 138,850 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $6,233,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ridgewood Investments LLC grew its holdings in CVS Health by 255.7% in the 4th quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 626 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in CVS Health in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in CVS Health in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in CVS Health in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Financial Perspectives Inc grew its holdings in CVS Health by 137.5% in the 4th quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 805 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CVS Health Price Performance

CVS opened at $67.22 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $60.60 and a 200-day moving average of $57.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.37, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. CVS Health Co. has a 12-month low of $43.56 and a 12-month high of $80.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

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

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be issued 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 3.96%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is 72.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CVS has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald raised CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Leerink Partnrs raised CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their price target on CVS Health from 67.00 to 70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.39.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.