AIA Group Ltd Buys New Stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

AIA Group Ltd acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 32,805 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $2,617,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Riverpoint Wealth Management Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health in the 4th quarter valued at $218,000. Canoe Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 95.1% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 1,762,629 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $139,177,000 after buying an additional 859,134 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management raised its stake in shares of CVS Health by 30.6% in the 4th quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 66,322 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $5,237,000 after buying an additional 15,548 shares in the last quarter. Steph & Co. grew its holdings in CVS Health by 192.0% during the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 438 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP boosted its stake in CVS Health by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 17,856 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,410,000 after acquiring an additional 2,901 shares during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CVS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on CVS Health from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $86.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Argus dropped their price objective on CVS Health from $100.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Bank of America reduced their price target on CVS Health from $95.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on CVS Health from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CVS Health currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.05.

CVS Health Trading Up 1.4 %

CVS Health stock traded up $0.79 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $59.00. The stock had a trading volume of 8,134,197 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,801,059. CVS Health Co. has a 12 month low of $52.77 and a 12 month high of $83.25. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.07 billion, a PE ratio of 10.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.52.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.38). The business had revenue of $88.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.33 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 13.53% and a net margin of 2.03%. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.20 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 7.02 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 22nd will be given a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 22nd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.75%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Edward J. Ludwig purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $53.88 per share, with a total value of $53,880.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 21,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,165,424.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.