Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday.

ELV has been the subject of a number of other reports. Stephens lowered Elevance Health from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $520.00 to $440.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Elevance Health from $483.00 to $478.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Elevance Health from $520.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Elevance Health from $501.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Elevance Health has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $519.81.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

Shares of Elevance Health stock opened at $427.27 on Thursday. Elevance Health has a one year low of $362.21 and a one year high of $567.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.68, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.86. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $400.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $426.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.50.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last issued its earnings results 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Elevance Health will post 33.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Elevance Health

In other Elevance Health 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 transaction of $1,388,635.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,008,970.80. This represents a 25.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.13, for a total value of $183,902.59. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,745.11. This trade represents a 19.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Elevance Health

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the fourth quarter worth $1,135,014,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 42.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,355,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,344,556,000 after acquiring an additional 1,893,947 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 47.6% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 3,225,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,189,828,000 after acquiring an additional 1,039,612 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 6,817.8% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 908,795 shares of the company’s stock worth $335,254,000 after acquiring an additional 895,658 shares during the period. Finally, D1 Capital Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the fourth quarter worth $294,751,000. 89.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Elevance Health Company Profile

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.