D L Carlson Investment Group Inc. Reduces Holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

D L Carlson Investment Group Inc. reduced its position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 21.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 67,298 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 18,545 shares during the period. D L Carlson Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $5,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Live Oak Investment Partners acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. 25 LLC acquired a new stake in CVS Health in the first quarter valued at $39,000. Freedom Wealth Alliance LLC acquired a new position in CVS Health during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Ahrens Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of CVS Health in the 1st quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of CVS Health by 178.6% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 624 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. 75.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CVS Health Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CVS opened at $70.53 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.05. The stock has a market cap of $90.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. CVS Health Co. has a fifty-two week low of $64.62 and a fifty-two week high of $104.83.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The pharmacy operator reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.09. CVS Health had a net margin of 0.86% and a return on equity of 15.43%. The company had revenue of $88.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.40 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 8.61 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 1st. Investors of record on Friday, July 21st were paid a dividend of $0.605 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 20th. This represents a $2.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 106.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on CVS. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on CVS Health from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Edward Jones cut shares of CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 17th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of CVS Health from $120.00 to $88.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 11th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on CVS Health from $89.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CVS Health currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP James David Clark sold 25,759 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.92, for a total transaction of $1,929,864.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,698 shares in the company, valued at approximately $351,974.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CVS Health Profile

CVS Health Corporation provides health services in the United States. It operates through Health Care Benefits, Pharmacy Services, and Retail/LTC segments. The Health Care Benefits segment offers traditional, voluntary, and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services. It serves employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, health care providers, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups, and expatriates.