B&L Asset Management LLC Acquires Shares of 3,237 CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

B&L Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 3,237 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 9.7% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 410,001 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $25,781,000 after purchasing an additional 36,132 shares during the last quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 43.8% in the third quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 122,682 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $7,125,000 after purchasing an additional 37,395 shares during the period. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 134,523 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $8,459,000 after buying an additional 10,453 shares during the period. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C purchased a new position in CVS Health in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $57,584,000. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in CVS Health by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 448,323 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $28,191,000 after acquiring an additional 24,285 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CVS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on CVS Health from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of CVS Health from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of CVS Health from $75.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $62.00 price target on shares of CVS Health in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.33.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of CVS Health stock opened at $59.85 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. CVS Health Co. has a 12 month low of $52.71 and a 12 month high of $83.25.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.01. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The business had revenue of $95.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.21 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 5.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

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

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.