Northeast Investment Management Sells 3,455 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Northeast Investment Management cut its holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 44.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,334 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 3,455 shares during the period. Northeast Investment Management’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $294,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CVS. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC grew its holdings in CVS Health by 49.9% during the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 4,836 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $217,000 after purchasing an additional 1,610 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in CVS Health during the fourth quarter valued at $111,000. Bristlecone Advisors LLC grew its holdings in CVS Health by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 10,788 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $484,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in CVS Health during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Polaris Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in CVS Health by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Polaris Capital Management LLC now owns 489,500 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $21,974,000 after purchasing an additional 34,700 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CVS has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on CVS Health from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Leerink Partners raised CVS Health from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on CVS Health from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wall Street Zen raised CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Barclays set a $79.00 price target on CVS Health and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Two investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CVS Health currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.75.

CVS Health Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE CVS opened at $64.21 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.01. CVS Health Co. has a twelve month low of $43.56 and a twelve month high of $72.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $81.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.54, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.56.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.63. The business had revenue of $94.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.07 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 9.11% and a net margin of 1.24%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd were issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.14%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.48%.

Insider Transactions at CVS Health

In related news, Director Guy P. Sansone acquired 1,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $63.70 per share, for a total transaction of $100,009.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 12,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $764,845.90. This represents a 15.04% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.22% of the company’s stock.

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.