The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Raises Holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 7.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,096,238 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 79,132 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $68,931,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its stake in CVS Health by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 13,135,308 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $825,948,000 after acquiring an additional 198,920 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 2.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,208,668 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $767,681,000 after purchasing an additional 304,386 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 33.5% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,289,788 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $310,722,000 after acquiring an additional 1,327,855 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 2,843,402 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $178,793,000 after buying an additional 421,416 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 2.4% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,436,343 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $143,890,000 after acquiring an additional 57,214 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of CVS stock opened at $59.96 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.55. CVS Health Co. has a fifty-two week low of $52.71 and a fifty-two week high of $83.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $59.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.72.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $95.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.72 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 1.36%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.21 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 5.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st were paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.44%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $67.00 price target (down previously from $76.00) on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of CVS Health from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $66.00 in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on CVS Health from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.33.

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.