Everence Capital Management Inc. Sells 17,310 Shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Everence Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 40.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 25,854 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 17,310 shares during the quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $1,161,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CVS. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,758 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $872,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of CVS Health by 5.6% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 727,522 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $42,270,000 after buying an additional 38,686 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC increased its stake in CVS Health by 29.2% during the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,981 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $176,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares during the period. Altus Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of CVS Health in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $309,000. Finally, Childress Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 261.0% during the 2nd quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,428 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $970,000 after purchasing an additional 11,877 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CVS Health Trading Up 3.5 %

CVS stock opened at $45.77 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $53.05 and a 200-day moving average of $57.21. The company has a market cap of $57.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.62, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.54. CVS Health Co. has a twelve month low of $43.56 and a twelve month high of $83.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $95.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.72 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The company’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.21 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.81%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on CVS shares. StockNews.com cut CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of CVS Health from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $60.00 to $66.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on CVS Health from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Mizuho lowered their price target on CVS Health from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of CVS Health from $75.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. 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, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.12.

About CVS Health

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.