Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $398.4444.

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group lowered their target price on Elevance Health from $435.00 to $425.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Elevance Health in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $343.00 price target for the company. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $360.00 to $398.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Monday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $445.00 to $420.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 16th.

Institutional Trading of Elevance Health

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in Elevance Health by 331.6% in the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 82 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 85 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Rossby Financial LCC increased its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 110.0% in the 3rd quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 84 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Elevance Health in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 94.9% during the second quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 76 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Elevance Health Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE ELV opened at $329.71 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $334.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $332.19. Elevance Health has a one year low of $273.71 and a one year high of $458.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.56. The firm has a market cap of $73.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.52.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.03 by $1.00. Elevance Health had a net margin of 2.84% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The business had revenue of $50.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $8.37 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Elevance Health will post 33.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a $1.71 dividend. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is currently 27.96%.

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.