Erste Asset Management GmbH Buys Shares of 99,521 CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 99,521 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $6,109,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Garland Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of CVS Health by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Garland Capital Management Inc. now owns 60,810 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,591,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in CVS Health by 7.2% in the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,397 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $151,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC raised its holdings in CVS Health by 0.4% in the second quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC now owns 46,637 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,754,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of CVS Health by 3.5% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,268 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of CVS Health by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,458 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $447,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on CVS. StockNews.com cut CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on CVS Health from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of CVS Health from $72.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report 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 report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.33.

CVS Health Price Performance

NYSE:CVS opened at $59.07 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.33 billion, a PE ratio of 14.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.55. CVS Health Co. has a 1-year low of $52.71 and a 1-year high of $83.25. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.77. 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 (NYSE:CVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.01. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The company had revenue of $95.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.21 EPS. CVS Health’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 5.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.50%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.51%.

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.