Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twelve have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $517.03.

ELV has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 1st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Elevance Health from $483.00 to $478.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays upped their price target on Elevance Health from $501.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Elevance Health from $520.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Argus restated a “hold” rating and set a $405.40 price target on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th.

Elevance Health Trading Up 1.7 %

ELV opened at $409.59 on Monday. Elevance Health has a one year low of $362.21 and a one year high of $567.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.12 billion, a PE ratio of 15.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $390.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $433.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.45.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.80 by $0.04. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 18.28% and a net margin of 3.38%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Elevance Health will post 33.96 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $1.71 dividend. This is a boost from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $396.30, for a total value of $1,388,635.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,008,970.80. This represents a 25.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Elevance Health

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Elevance Health by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,485,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,926,028,000 after buying an additional 138,380 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Elevance Health by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,687,998 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,557,759,000 after buying an additional 129,709 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Elevance Health by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,618,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,917,004,000 after buying an additional 464,137 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Elevance Health by 42.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,355,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,344,556,000 after buying an additional 1,893,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Elevance Health by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,963,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,826,447,000 after buying an additional 115,971 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

About Elevance Health

Elevance Health, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a health benefits company in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Health Benefits, CarelonRx, Carelon Services, and Corporate & Other. It offers a variety of health plans and services to program members; health products; an array of fee-based administrative managed care services; and specialty and other insurance products and services, such as stop loss, dental, vision, life, disability, and supplemental health insurance benefits.