Alliancebernstein L.P. Has $64.60 Million Stock Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Alliancebernstein L.P. cut its position in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,438,997 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 93,479 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $64,597,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CVS. State Street Corp grew its position in CVS Health by 3.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,527,909 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,554,475,000 after acquiring an additional 1,989,066 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased 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 buying an additional 461,569 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in CVS Health by 49.3% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 19,610,579 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $880,319,000 after buying an additional 6,475,271 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of CVS Health in the fourth quarter worth about $839,574,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,918,949 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $579,932,000 after acquiring an additional 710,281 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Stock Down 5.9 %

NYSE CVS opened at $63.54 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 company has a market capitalization of $80.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.36, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. CVS Health Co. has a 1-year low of $43.56 and a 1-year high of $75.12. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $63.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.01.

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

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 22nd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Michael F. Mahoney acquired 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $66.70 per share, for a total transaction 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total value of $498,487.55. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $556,941.90. This represents 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on CVS Health from 67.00 to 70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Argus set a $77.00 price target on shares of CVS Health in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CVS Health presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.39.

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.