Northern Trust Corp Purchases 928,833 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 12,491,956 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 928,833 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $560,764,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 4.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,434,476 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $90,200,000 after buying an additional 66,244 shares in the last quarter. Hall Laurie J Trustee grew its position in shares of CVS Health by 25,484.4% in the 4th quarter. Hall Laurie J Trustee now owns 11,513 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $517,000 after acquiring an additional 11,468 shares during the period. B&D White Capital Company LLC acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health during the 4th quarter worth about $417,000. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC lifted its stake in CVS Health by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC now owns 7,302 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seizert Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in CVS Health by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 569,527 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $25,566,000 after purchasing an additional 105,708 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at CVS Health

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 acquired at an average price of $66.70 per share, with a total value of $2,001,000.00. Following the purchase, 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 ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $556,941.90. The trade was a 47.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on CVS Health from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Leerink Partners raised shares of CVS Health from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of CVS Health from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of CVS Health from $51.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.83.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CVS opened at $65.00 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $81.95 billion, a PE ratio of 17.76, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $66.45 and a 200-day moving average of $58.74. CVS Health Co. has a 12 month low of $43.56 and a 12 month high of $71.45.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released 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 return on equity of 9.11% and a net margin of 1.24%. On average, equities research analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 72.68%.

CVS Health Company 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.