Mizuho Securities USA LLC Sells 15,225 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC lowered its holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 15.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,573 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 15,225 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $5,129,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CVS. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of CVS Health by 1.5% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 13,135,308 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $825,948,000 after acquiring an additional 198,920 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 5.9% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,963,508 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $555,406,000 after buying an additional 389,166 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in CVS Health by 33.5% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,289,788 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $310,722,000 after buying an additional 1,327,855 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its stake in CVS Health by 17.4% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 2,843,402 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $178,793,000 after acquiring an additional 421,416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,436,343 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $143,890,000 after purchasing an additional 57,214 shares during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CVS Health Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of CVS stock opened at $57.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.80. 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 market cap of $71.81 billion, a PE ratio of 14.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $59.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.60.

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

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st were given 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 4.66%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays reduced their price target on CVS Health from $75.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of CVS Health from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $62.00 price objective on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. TD Cowen upgraded CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on CVS Health from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.28.

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.