Anthem (NYSE:ANTM) Price Target Raised to $545.00 at Mizuho

Anthem (NYSE:ANTM – Get Rating) had its target price upped by research analysts at Mizuho from $510.00 to $545.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, The Fly reports. Mizuho’s price target suggests a potential upside of 9.33% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Anthem from $477.00 to $541.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Anthem from $575.00 to $625.00 in a report on Thursday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Anthem from $518.00 to $607.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Anthem from $559.00 to $574.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 11th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Anthem in a report on Thursday, March 31st. They set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $545.23.

Shares of NYSE:ANTM opened at $498.48 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $120.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $487.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $454.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.36. Anthem has a fifty-two week low of $355.43 and a fifty-two week high of $533.68.

Anthem (NYSE:ANTM – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 20th. The company reported $8.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.81 by $0.44. The business had revenue of $38.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.28 billion. Anthem had a net margin of 4.33% and a return on equity of 18.71%. Anthem’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $7.01 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Anthem will post 28.55 earnings per share for the current year.

In other Anthem news, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 2,763 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.48, for a total transaction of $1,252,965.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 2,423 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.68, for a total value of $1,123,496.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 22,889 shares of company stock worth $10,532,411. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ANTM. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Anthem by 7.8% during the second quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,568,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $598,899,000 after purchasing an additional 113,659 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Anthem during the third quarter worth approximately $416,000. Advisory Services Network LLC raised its position in shares of Anthem by 2.6% during the third quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 4,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,672,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A. raised its position in Anthem by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 10,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,987,000 after buying an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keybank National Association OH raised its position in Anthem by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 9,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,600,000 after buying an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. 84.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Anthem Company Profile (Get Rating)

Anthem, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as a health benefits company in the United States. It operates through four segments: Commercial & Specialty Business, Government Business, IngenioRx, and Other. The company offers a spectrum of network-based managed care health benefit plans to large and small groups, individuals, Medicaid, and Medicare markets.

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