Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS) by 780.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 643,617 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after buying an additional 570,535 shares during the period. CVS Health Corporation makes up 1.8% of Crawford Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. owned 0.06% of CVS Health Corporation worth $50,524,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CVS. Lebenthal Asset Management LLC increased its position in CVS Health Corporation by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Lebenthal Asset Management LLC now owns 6,557 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $517,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Alpha Windward LLC increased its position in CVS Health Corporation by 1.5% in the first quarter. Alpha Windward LLC now owns 3,302 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $259,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC increased its position in CVS Health Corporation by 0.4% in the first quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC now owns 16,355 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,284,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC increased its position in CVS Health Corporation by 0.8% in the first quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 12,090 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $949,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in CVS Health Corporation by 0.6% in the first quarter. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,122 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,266,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. 82.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Shares of CVS Health Corporation (CVS) opened at 79.75 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $78.74 and a 200 day moving average of $79.18. The firm has a market cap of $81.25 billion, a PE ratio of 16.63 and a beta of 0.91. CVS Health Corporation has a 52-week low of $69.30 and a 52-week high of $98.66.
CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The pharmacy operator reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $44.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.20 billion. CVS Health Corporation had a net margin of 2.86% and a return on equity of 17.56%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.18 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that CVS Health Corporation will post $5.87 earnings per share for the current year.
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 24th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 20th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.51%. CVS Health Corporation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.67%.
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A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CVS shares. Jefferies Group LLC set a $82.00 price objective on shares of CVS Health Corporation and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 1st. Vetr raised shares of CVS Health Corporation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $85.70 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, April 3rd. UBS AG reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price objective (down from $89.00) on shares of CVS Health Corporation in a report on Tuesday, April 4th. Tigress Financial started coverage on shares of CVS Health Corporation in a report on Thursday, April 27th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price objective (up from $87.00) on shares of CVS Health Corporation in a report on Wednesday, May 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. CVS Health Corporation presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $93.67.
In other news, CFO David M. Denton sold 230,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $18,440,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 176,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,158,640. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Helena Foulkes sold 20,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $1,626,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,744,080. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 271,175 shares of company stock valued at $21,632,597 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.
About CVS Health Corporation
CVS Health Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, is an integrated pharmacy healthcare company. The Company provides pharmacy care for the senior community through Omnicare, Inc (Omnicare) and Omnicare’s long-term care (LTC) operations, which include distribution of pharmaceuticals, related pharmacy consulting and other ancillary services to chronic care facilities and other care settings.
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