Garland Capital Management Inc. Reduces Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Garland Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 9.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 54,790 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 6,020 shares during the quarter. CVS Health accounts for about 2.6% of Garland Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Garland Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $3,445,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cullinan Associates Inc. grew its position in CVS Health by 43.8% during the third quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 122,682 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $7,125,000 after buying an additional 37,395 shares during the period. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C purchased a new position in shares of CVS Health during the 2nd quarter valued at about $57,584,000. CX Institutional grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 698.0% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 74,609 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $4,691,000 after acquiring an additional 65,259 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC raised its stake in CVS Health by 27.9% during the 2nd quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 665,451 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $39,302,000 after acquiring an additional 145,158 shares during the period. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 11.0% during the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,537,791 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $96,696,000 after purchasing an additional 151,901 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CVS. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $68.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays lowered their price target on CVS Health from $82.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen upgraded shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of CVS Health from $66.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of CVS Health from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.11.

CVS Health Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of CVS traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $54.94. The stock had a trading volume of 1,554,535 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,131,688. CVS Health Co. has a 1 year low of $52.77 and a 1 year high of $83.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $59.58 and its 200 day moving average is $59.39. The firm has a market cap of $69.11 billion, a PE ratio of 9.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.55.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $91.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $91.41 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 12.72% and a net margin of 1.98%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.21 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 6.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. 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 4.84%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is 47.33%.

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.