Birch Capital Management LLC Decreases Holdings in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS)

Birch Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) by 93.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,387 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 58,442 shares during the quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC’s holdings in CVS Health were worth $197,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its position in CVS Health by 3.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,527,909 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,554,475,000 after acquiring an additional 1,989,066 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in CVS Health by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,361,673 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,651,997,000 after purchasing an additional 461,569 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in CVS Health by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 13,135,308 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $825,948,000 after buying an additional 198,920 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in CVS Health by 2.6% in the 3rd 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 grew its stake in shares of CVS Health by 34.8% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 11,897,034 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $748,085,000 after acquiring an additional 3,071,613 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the company’s stock.

CVS Health Stock Performance

CVS traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $45.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,689,442 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,191,490. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.67 billion, a PE ratio of 11.63, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. CVS Health Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.56 and a fifty-two week high of $83.25. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.97.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $95.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.72 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 10.72%. CVS Health’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.21 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 5.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 23rd. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho reduced their price target on CVS Health from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of CVS Health from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of CVS Health from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered CVS Health from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.71.

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.