Leerink Partnrs Lifts Earnings Estimates for Elevance Health

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) – Research analysts at Leerink Partnrs raised their Q1 2025 EPS estimates for Elevance Health in a report issued on Wednesday, April 16th. Leerink Partnrs analyst W. Mayo now forecasts that the company will post earnings of $11.57 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $10.97. The consensus estimate for Elevance Health’s current full-year earnings is $33.96 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Elevance Health’s Q2 2025 earnings at $10.17 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $11.83 EPS, FY2028 earnings at $54.20 EPS and FY2029 earnings at $62.23 EPS.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 earnings per share 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%.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on ELV. Barclays boosted their target price on Elevance Health from $501.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Baird R W cut shares of Elevance Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $529.00 target price (down from $625.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Elevance Health currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $514.41.

Elevance Health Price Performance

ELV stock opened at $424.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.45. The firm has a market cap of $96.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $416.77 and its 200 day moving average is $411.07. Elevance Health has a 52 week low of $362.21 and a 52 week high of $567.26.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $1.71 dividend. This is a boost from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is presently 26.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Elevance Health

In other Elevance Health news, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.13, for a total transaction of $183,902.59. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,745.11. This represents a 19.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Elevance Health

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health during the 4th quarter valued at $1,135,014,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted 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 acquiring an additional 1,893,947 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Elevance Health by 81,726.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,474,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $641,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,472,712 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 47.6% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 3,225,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,189,828,000 after purchasing an additional 1,039,612 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Elevance Health by 6,817.8% during the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 908,795 shares of the company’s stock valued at $335,254,000 after purchasing an additional 895,658 shares during the last quarter. 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.