Empirical Asset Management LLC Buys 32,860 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Empirical Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 816.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 36,885 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,860 shares during the quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $1,656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

CVS Health Trading Up 1.5 %

CVS Health stock opened at $52.72 on Friday. CVS Health Co. has a 52 week low of $43.56 and a 52 week high of $80.75. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $51.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $66.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.59.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $95.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.21 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CVS Health Co. will post 5.22 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.05%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on CVS shares. StockNews.com lowered CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays lowered their price target on CVS Health from $75.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on CVS Health from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.71.

CVS Health Company 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.