Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $539.20.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $593.00 to $495.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Elevance Health from $585.00 to $478.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Argus lowered Elevance Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on Elevance Health from $600.00 to $485.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, October 18th.

Elevance Health Price Performance

Shares of ELV stock opened at $372.94 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Elevance Health has a twelve month low of $362.21 and a twelve month high of $567.26. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $406.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $487.13.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The company reported $8.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.66 by ($1.29). The business had revenue of $44.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.47 billion. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 19.56% and a net margin of 3.68%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $8.99 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Elevance Health will post 32.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Elevance Health

In other news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 7,417 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $432.14, for a total value of $3,205,182.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,423 shares in the company, valued at $3,639,915.22. This trade represents a 46.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Elevance Health

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 272,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,777,000 after acquiring an additional 11,646 shares during the last quarter. Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Elevance Health by 44.1% during the third quarter. Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc. now owns 640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 2.6% in the third quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 2,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,204,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in Elevance Health during the 3rd quarter worth about $10,883,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,212,839 shares of the company’s stock valued at $617,359,000 after buying an additional 168,220 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.