Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases Shares of 2,584,830 CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,584,830 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $116,033,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.21% of CVS Health at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of CVS Health in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC raised its holdings in CVS Health by 255.7% during the fourth quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 626 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in CVS Health during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in CVS Health during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Financial Perspectives Inc raised its holdings in CVS Health by 137.5% during the fourth quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 805 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Price Performance

CVS Health stock opened at $66.34 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $83.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.12, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. CVS Health Co. has a 12 month low of $43.56 and a 12 month high of $80.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $56.42 and its 200-day moving average is $56.75.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.30. CVS Health had a return on equity of 9.11% and a net margin of 1.24%. Equities research analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 23rd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CVS Health news, Director Michael F. Mahoney bought 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $66.70 per share, for a total transaction of $2,001,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,625,045.20. This trade represents a 320.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP James David Clark sold 7,513 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total value of $498,487.55. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $556,941.90. The trade was a 47.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded CVS Health from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Edward Jones upgraded CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Leerink Partners upgraded CVS Health from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on CVS Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Argus set a $77.00 price target on CVS Health in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.83.

CVS Health 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.