Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC Takes Position in CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS)

Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC bought a new stake in CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 4,226 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $286,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 707 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in CVS Health in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC grew its position in CVS Health by 39.4% during the 1st quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 637 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. PARK CIRCLE Co raised its holdings in CVS Health by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. PARK CIRCLE Co now owns 1,000 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 77.2% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 1,024 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CVS Health Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of CVS opened at $62.52 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. CVS Health Corporation has a 1-year low of $43.56 and a 1-year high of $72.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $64.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.85.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.35. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.17% and a return on equity of 10.51%. The business had revenue of $98.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.83 EPS. CVS Health’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that CVS Health Corporation will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 22nd were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 22nd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is currently 74.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CVS has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $84.00 target price (up previously from $76.00) on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on CVS Health from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of CVS Health in a report on Monday, May 5th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on CVS Health from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on CVS Health from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.11.

Insider Activity

In other CVS Health news, Director Guy P. Sansone acquired 1,570 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $63.70 per share, with a total value of $100,009.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 12,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $764,845.90. The trade was a 15.04% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.22% of the company’s stock.

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.