Aetna is one of the best-known health insurers in America, and it has had the same owner since 2018. Yesterday, that owner announced a historic breakup, and Aetna’s place in it is the key detail. Here is who owns Aetna today, how the deal happened, and what changes next.
Who Owns Aetna in 2026?
Aetna is owned by CVS Health, the healthcare and pharmacy company headquartered in Woonsocket, Rhode Island and listed on the NYSE under the ticker CVS. CVS completed its purchase of Aetna on November 28, 2018, and Aetna has run as a wholly owned subsidiary ever since.
Aetna keeps its own brand and its headquarters in Hartford, Connecticut. It has no separate stock listing anymore, because it traded on the NYSE as AET until the deal closed, as Wikipedia’s Aetna entry notes.
Ownership and Key Stakeholders Table
| Owner / Party | Role | Approx. Stake | Key Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| CVS Health Corporation | Parent company of Aetna | 100% of Aetna Inc. | NYSE: CVS; bought Aetna on November 28, 2018 |
| BlackRock | Largest CVS shareholder | ~9.6% | Index-fund manager |
| Vanguard | Major CVS shareholder | ~9% | Index-fund manager |
| Capital Group | Major CVS shareholder | ~9% | Active manager (Capital Research and Management) |
| State Street | Institutional shareholder | ~4.7% | Index-fund manager |
| Dodge & Cox | Institutional shareholder | ~3.9% | Active value investor |
| FMR (Fidelity) | Institutional shareholder | ~2.5% | Active and index funds |
| David Joyner | Chairman and CEO of CVS Health | No controlling stake | CEO since 2024 |
| Steve Nelson | EVP and President of Aetna | No controlling stake | In the role since November 2024 |
Breaking: CVS Health Plans to Split Into Two Companies
On November 4, 2026, CVS announced that it intends to separate into two independent, publicly traded companies, according to its official press release. Aetna will stay with the healthcare solutions company, which keeps the CVS Health name for now and will be led by David Joyner. That company also includes CVS Caremark, CVS Specialty, Oak Street Health, and Signify Health.
The second company, CVS Pharmacy, will run roughly 9,000 drugstores and MinuteClinic under Prem Shah. CVS’s quarterly SEC filing says the separation is meant to be tax-free and is expected to finish in the first half of 2028, subject to approvals. Shareholders will receive shares in both companies, and CVS stock fell about 12% on the day, CNN reported.
For now, nothing changes about who owns Aetna. After the split, Aetna will still belong to the company that keeps the CVS Health name, owned by the same investors.
CVS did not say whether Aetna’s headquarters will stay in Hartford. According to Hartford Business Journal, the split would land months before CVS’s 10-year pledge to keep the headquarters there runs out.
Who Are CVS Health’s Biggest Shareholders?
No single investor controls CVS Health. Institutions hold roughly 87% to 91% of the stock depending on the data provider, per Yahoo Finance’s holder data. The top spot belongs to BlackRock at about 9.6%, followed by Vanguard at roughly 9%, according to Investing.com.
Capital Group, State Street, and Dodge & Cox round out the top five. Most of these funds hold shares for millions of savers, and the same pair also sits near the top of the share register at companies from Apple and Lockheed Martin to Shell. That is how large asset managers end up owning a slice of nearly everything. Exact percentages shift by date and source, so treat them as close estimates.
How CVS Bought Aetna
CVS and Aetna announced the deal on December 3, 2017. Aetna shareholders were offered $145 in cash plus 0.8378 CVS shares per share, which CNBC valued at about $207 per share, or roughly $69 billion. The price rose to about $212 per share by closing, per CNBC’s closing report.
The U.S. Department of Justice cleared the deal on October 10, 2018, on one condition: Aetna had to sell its standalone Medicare Part D drug plans to WellCare. Becker’s Hospital Review reported that those plans covered about 2.2 million members. Aetna then continued as a stand-alone unit inside CVS with its management team intact.
Aetna Before CVS: A 165-Year Run
Aetna dates back to 1853, when the Aetna Life Insurance Company was formed in Hartford with Eliphalet A. Bulkeley as its first president. Becker’s notes the name comes from Mount Etna in Sicily, and the company later added health insurance in 1899 and major medical coverage in 1951.
Aetna tried to grow through deals before CVS came along. It bought Coventry Health Care in 2013, then agreed to merge with Humana in 2015, but a federal judge blocked that deal on January 23, 2017, as Ballotpedia records. CVS made its offer less than a year later.
Aetna Today: Turnaround Under CVS
Aetna’s financial picture has improved sharply. CVS’s Health Care Benefits segment, which houses Aetna, earned $912 million in adjusted operating income in the third quarter of 2026, compared with $314 million a year earlier, according to Insurance Business. Medical membership stood at 26.1 million, slightly below last year.
That report also notes that Aetna left the Affordable Care Act exchanges this year. Day-to-day, Steve Nelson leads Aetna as its president, a role he has held since November 2024.
How Aetna Compares With Its Rivals
CVS Health (Aetna) holds about 4.3% of the U.S. health insurance market with roughly $71 billion in revenue, according to ValuePenguin. That places it among the top insurance companies in the country, behind giants like UnitedHealth Group and Kaiser Permanente.
CVS’s drugstore rival has also changed hands. Walgreens Boots Alliance was taken private by Sycamore Partners in 2025, while CVS stays public.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1. Who owns Aetna in 2026?
CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) owns 100% of Aetna.
Q2. When did CVS buy Aetna?
CVS completed the purchase on November 28, 2018, for about $69 billion.
Q3. Is Aetna publicly traded?
Not on its own, since it traded as AET on the NYSE until 2018, and now it belongs to CVS.
Q4. Will Aetna stay with CVS after the split?
Yes, Aetna will remain with the healthcare solutions company that keeps the CVS Health name.
Q5. When will CVS split into two companies?
The separation is expected in the first half of 2028.
Q6. Who are CVS Health’s biggest shareholders?
BlackRock (about 9.6%) and Vanguard (about 9%) lead the list.
Q7. Who runs Aetna?
Steve Nelson has been president of Aetna since November 2024, under CVS CEO David Joyner.
Q8. Who founded Aetna?
Eliphalet A. Bulkeley was the first president of the Aetna Life Insurance Company in Hartford in 1853.
Official website: aetna.com
Aetna is owned by CVS Health, a publicly traded company that bought it for about $69 billion in 2018. CVS’s biggest shareholders are BlackRock, Vanguard, and Capital Group, with no single owner in control.
On November 4, 2026, CVS said it will split into two companies by the first half of 2028. Aetna stays with the healthcare solutions company that keeps the CVS Health name, so its ownership story continues, just in a smaller parent.