975,000 Shares in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Bought by Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C

Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C bought a new position in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 975,000 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $57,584,000. CVS Health comprises 1.0% of Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C owned 0.08% of CVS Health as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC acquired a new position in shares of CVS Health in the 2nd quarter valued at about $502,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in CVS Health by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 104,590 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $6,177,000 after buying an additional 11,950 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its position in shares of CVS Health by 0.9% in the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 1,108,877 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $61,106,000 after acquiring an additional 10,096 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in CVS Health by 33.5% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,289,788 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $310,722,000 after acquiring an additional 1,327,855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC boosted its position in CVS Health by 10.3% during the second quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 669,084 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $39,516,000 after acquiring an additional 62,475 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:CVS opened at $58.65 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $73.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $58.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.20. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $52.77 and a 1-year high of $83.25.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $91.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.41 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.98% and a return on equity of 12.72%. CVS Health’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.21 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 6.51 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.54%. CVS Health’s payout ratio is currently 46.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CVS. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of CVS Health from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $68.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of CVS Health from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of CVS Health from $101.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.10.

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.