Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Lowers Position in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 14.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,782 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 2,299 shares during the period. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $867,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of CVS. Garland Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 0.3% during the second quarter. Garland Capital Management Inc. now owns 60,810 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,591,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,397 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $151,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC boosted its position in CVS Health by 0.4% during the second quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC now owns 46,637 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,754,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in CVS Health by 3.5% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,268 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of CVS Health by 2.5% during the second quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,458 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $447,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CVS. StockNews.com downgraded shares of CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on CVS Health from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Mizuho dropped their target price on CVS Health from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on CVS Health from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on CVS Health from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.44.

CVS Health Trading Down 3.4 %

Shares of CVS Health stock opened at $53.19 on Friday. CVS Health Co. has a 1 year low of $52.71 and a 1 year high of $83.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $66.93 billion, a PE ratio of 13.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $59.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.72.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $95.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.72 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 1.36%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.21 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.51%.

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.