Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Short Interest Update

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 3,669,028 shares, a decrease of 13.2% from the February 26th total of 4,227,962 shares. Approximately 1.7% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 3,161,016 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.2 days.

Elevance Health Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of NYSE:ELV opened at $293.10 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $318.92 and its 200 day moving average is $332.55. Elevance Health has a 12-month low of $273.71 and a 12-month high of $458.75. The stock has a market cap of $64.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.67, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $49.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.52 billion. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 15.59% and a net margin of 2.84%.Elevance Health’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.84 EPS. Elevance Health has set its FY 2026 guidance at 25.500- EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Elevance Health will post 33.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th were given a dividend of $1.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. This is an increase from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.71. This represents a $6.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on ELV. Wall Street Zen downgraded Elevance Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 8th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $400.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $359.00 to $352.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Leerink Partners upped their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $431.00 to $409.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $387.40.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Elevance Health

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Foresight Global Investors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Foresight Global Investors Inc. now owns 865 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Stance Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,358,000. World Investment Advisors increased its position in shares of Elevance Health by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 28,290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,917,000 after acquiring an additional 1,597 shares during the last quarter. Larry Mathis Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in Elevance Health during the fourth quarter worth $736,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Elevance Health by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 67,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,579,000 after acquiring an additional 7,315 shares during the period. 89.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Elevance Health

Elevance Health, Inc (NYSE: ELV) is a large U.S.-based health benefits company that provides a broad range of health insurance products and related services. Headquartered in Indianapolis, the company rebranded from Anthem, Inc to Elevance Health in 2022 while continuing to operate consumer-facing health plans under established state and national brands. Gail Boudreaux serves as chief executive officer and president, leading the company’s strategic focus on integrated health care and benefit delivery.

Elevance’s core activities include offering medical and specialty health plans for individuals, employers and government programs, including Medicare and Medicaid managed-care products.