National Bank of Canada FI Increases Stock Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 5.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 727,522 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,686 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $42,270,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. USA Financial Formulas raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 573.2% in the fourth quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 377 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in CVS Health in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. First Community Trust NA lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 116.2% in the 2nd quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 562 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CVS Health during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Steph & Co. grew its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 192.0% during the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 438 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on CVS shares. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of CVS Health from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on CVS Health from $101.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays reduced their target price on CVS Health from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Baird R W upgraded CVS Health to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CVS Health presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.48.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of CVS opened at $58.06 on Friday. CVS Health Co. has a 52 week low of $52.77 and a 52 week high of $83.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market cap of $72.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.20, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $58.32 and a 200-day moving average of $64.00.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $91.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $91.41 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.98% and a return on equity of 12.72%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.21 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 6.52 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.58%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 22nd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.75%.

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.