Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Stock Price

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) had its target price cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $593.00 to $495.00 in a research note released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $600.00 to $485.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Argus lowered shares of Elevance Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $520.00 price objective (down previously from $620.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $530.00 target price (down previously from $646.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Elevance Health from $605.00 to $555.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $539.20.

Elevance Health Price Performance

Shares of ELV stock opened at $429.22 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The company has a market capitalization of $99.54 billion, a PE ratio of 15.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $494.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $519.32. Elevance Health has a 12 month low of $397.98 and a 12 month high of $567.26.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The company reported $8.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.66 by ($1.29). The firm had revenue of $44.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.47 billion. Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.68% and a return on equity of 19.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $8.99 EPS. Analysts predict that Elevance Health will post 32.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.77%.

Insider Activity at Elevance Health

In other Elevance Health news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 7,417 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $432.14, for a total value of $3,205,182.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,423 shares in the company, valued at $3,639,915.22. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Elevance Health

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ELV. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Elevance Health in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Elevance Health in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Elevance Health during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Elevance Health during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Elevance Health in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.