CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Shares Sold by Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. decreased its holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 9.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 276,713 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 28,641 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $17,400,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CVS. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 132.9% during the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 12,936,388 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $764,023,000 after purchasing an additional 7,382,931 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in CVS Health by 12.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,917,923 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,024,334,000 after buying an additional 4,226,225 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in CVS Health by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 43,776,874 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,491,643,000 after buying an additional 3,232,172 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 5,864.2% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,730,343 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $108,804,000 after acquiring an additional 1,701,331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 402.5% in the second quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 2,005,677 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $118,455,000 after acquiring an additional 1,606,500 shares during the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CVS. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of CVS Health from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on CVS Health from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Barclays cut their target price on CVS Health from $82.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $66.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CVS Health has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.58.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of CVS stock traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $57.44. 918,598 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,162,791. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.54. CVS Health Co. has a 12-month low of $52.77 and a 12-month high of $83.25. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.86.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.10. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.98% and a return on equity of 12.72%. The firm had revenue of $91.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.21 EPS. CVS Health’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 6.41 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st will be given a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.63%. 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.