Ninety One UK Ltd Acquires 147,103 Shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Ninety One UK Ltd grew its holdings in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 20.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 858,171 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 147,103 shares during the period. Elevance Health makes up about 1.2% of Ninety One UK Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Ninety One UK Ltd owned about 0.37% of Elevance Health worth $404,679,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Sanders Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Elevance Health by 1.4% in the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,261,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,855,750,000 after purchasing an additional 58,013 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of Elevance Health by 13.1% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,214,663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,428,243,000 after purchasing an additional 372,937 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Elevance Health by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 3,143,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,396,583,000 after acquiring an additional 56,204 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its holdings in Elevance Health by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 3,087,904 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,456,132,000 after acquiring an additional 27,986 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Elevance Health by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,784,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,212,521,000 after acquiring an additional 46,322 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 753 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $376,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,554,500. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Elevance Health Trading Up 3.9 %

Shares of Elevance Health stock traded up $20.09 during trading on Thursday, reaching $529.06. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,311,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,036,196. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 52-week low of $412.00 and a 52-week high of $539.11. The company has a market cap of $123.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.27, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $508.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $482.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $5.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.60 by $0.02. Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.49% and a return on equity of 20.47%. The company had revenue of $42.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 37.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $1.63 dividend. This is a boost from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is 25.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $580.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $572.00 to $574.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $584.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Elevance Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $561.00 to $557.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $569.00.

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.