Truist Financial Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Stock

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) had its price objective hoisted by Truist Financial from $480.00 to $510.00 in a report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $518.00 target price for the company. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $455.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Stephens downgraded Elevance Health from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $520.00 to $440.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $521.47.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

Shares of ELV stock opened at $439.80 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $99.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.17, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.77. Elevance Health has a 52-week low of $362.21 and a 52-week high of $567.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company’s 50 day moving average is $412.93 and its 200 day moving average is $412.57.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 earnings per share (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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Elevance Health will post 33.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $1.71 dividend. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is 26.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,116 shares in the company, valued at $4,008,970.80. This represents a 25.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 1,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,745.11. This 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 currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Elevance Health

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Riverview Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 1,340.0% during the 1st quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 72 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Elevance Health during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

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.