Raymond James & Associates Cuts Stock Holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Raymond James & Associates reduced its position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 10.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,041,004 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 245,468 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned about 0.16% of CVS Health worth $128,338,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position in CVS Health by 132.9% in the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 12,936,388 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $764,023,000 after buying an additional 7,382,931 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 12.5% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,917,923 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,024,334,000 after purchasing an additional 4,226,225 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 8.0% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 43,776,874 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,491,643,000 after purchasing an additional 3,232,172 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its stake in CVS Health by 402.5% during the 2nd quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 2,005,677 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $118,455,000 after buying an additional 1,606,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of CVS Health during the 1st quarter valued at $110,816,000. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of CVS Health from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. TD Cowen upgraded CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $59.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on CVS Health from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.26.

CVS Health Trading Down 5.2 %

Shares of NYSE CVS opened at $60.34 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.60, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.54. CVS Health Co. has a 1-year low of $52.77 and a 1-year high of $83.25. The business’s 50 day moving average is $59.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.10. CVS Health had a return on equity of 12.72% and a net margin of 1.98%. The company had revenue of $91.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $91.41 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.21 earnings per share. CVS Health’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 6.51 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. CVS Health’s payout ratio is presently 46.75%.

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.