Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. Sells 29,471 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. reduced its position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 52.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 26,425 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 29,471 shares during the quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $1,186,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,527,909 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,554,475,000 after purchasing an additional 1,989,066 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,361,673 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,651,997,000 after purchasing an additional 461,569 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 49.3% in the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 19,610,579 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $880,319,000 after purchasing an additional 6,475,271 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,918,949 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $579,932,000 after purchasing an additional 710,281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of CVS Health by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 11,897,034 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $748,085,000 after acquiring an additional 3,071,613 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CVS Health Stock Performance

NYSE CVS opened at $67.22 on Friday. CVS Health Co. has a 1 year low of $43.56 and a 1 year high of $80.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $84.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.37, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $60.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.34.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.96%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is currently 72.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CVS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on shares of CVS Health from 67.00 to 70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Edward Jones upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of CVS Health from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.39.

Insider Activity at CVS Health

In other CVS Health news, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,394 shares in the company, valued at $556,941.90. This trade 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 through this link. Also, Director Michael F. Mahoney bought 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,625,045.20. This trade represents a 320.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.