Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $8.40 Million Position in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lessened its holdings in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,154 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,360 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Elevance Health were worth $8,400,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ELV. Simplify Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Elevance Health by 67.3% in the 3rd quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,762 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,556,000 after purchasing an additional 3,526 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Elevance Health by 24.9% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 41,965 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,822,000 after buying an additional 8,379 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in Elevance Health by 2.0% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 9,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,850,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. First Business Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Elevance Health by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,370,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 34,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,686,000 after acquiring an additional 2,541 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Price Performance

ELV opened at $400.78 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $92.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.85. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $475.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $513.63. Elevance Health, Inc. has a one year low of $397.98 and a one year high of $567.26.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its 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). Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.68% and a return on equity of 19.56%. The firm had revenue of $44.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.47 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $8.99 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 32.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Elevance Health

In other news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 7,417 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $432.14, for a total value of $3,205,182.38. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,423 shares in the company, valued at $3,639,915.22. This trade represents a 46.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on ELV shares. Mizuho cut their target price on Elevance Health from $585.00 to $505.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Stephens restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $622.00 to $501.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Raymond James set a $485.00 price target on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Elevance Health from $589.00 to $484.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Elevance Health currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $539.20.

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.