Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA Sells 2,734 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA lowered its position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 28.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,945 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 2,734 shares during the quarter. Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $312,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CVS. State Street Corp lifted its stake in CVS Health by 3.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,527,909 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,554,475,000 after purchasing an additional 1,989,066 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,361,673 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,651,997,000 after acquiring an additional 461,569 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its position in CVS Health by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 13,135,308 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $825,948,000 after acquiring an additional 198,920 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in CVS Health by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,208,668 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $767,681,000 after purchasing an additional 304,386 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 34.8% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 11,897,034 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $748,085,000 after purchasing an additional 3,071,613 shares during the period. 80.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on CVS. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of CVS Health from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $60.00 to $66.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. Barclays cut their target price on CVS Health from $75.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Edward Jones raised CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen upped their target price on CVS Health from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on shares of CVS Health from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.12.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CVS opened at $55.97 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $70.43 billion, a PE ratio of 14.18, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $51.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.13. CVS Health Co. has a 1-year low of $43.56 and a 1-year high of $80.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.01. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The firm had revenue of $95.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.21 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 23rd. CVS Health’s payout ratio is currently 67.51%.

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.