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

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $509.44.

Several research analysts recently commented on ELV shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price target on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stephens cut Elevance Health from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $520.00 to $440.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Truist Financial increased their price target on Elevance Health from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Barclays raised their price objective on Elevance Health from $512.00 to $522.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $478.00 price target on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd.

Insider Activity at Elevance Health

In other news, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.13, for a total transaction of $183,902.59. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,745.11. This trade represents a 19.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Mark Kaye sold 4,588 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $424.82, for a total transaction of $1,949,074.16. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,061,809.14. This trade represents a 19.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,535 shares of company stock worth $3,521,612 in the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Elevance Health

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ELV. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Elevance Health in the 4th quarter valued at $1,135,014,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Elevance Health by 42.5% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Elevance Health by 81,726.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,474,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $641,355,000 after acquiring an additional 1,472,712 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,039,612 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 895,658 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Stock Down 2.0 %

NYSE:ELV opened at $413.41 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market cap of $93.40 billion, a PE ratio of 16.14, 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $420.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $406.68.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $11.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.60 by $1.37. The business had revenue of $48.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $46.26 billion. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 18.28% and a net margin of 3.38%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Elevance Health will post 33.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a $1.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is 26.69%.

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.