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

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $587.42.

ELV has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on Elevance Health from $585.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Elevance Health from $557.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Elevance Health from $574.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Elevance Health from $602.00 to $604.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Elevance Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th.

Insider Transactions at Elevance Health

In other news, EVP Felicia F. Norwood sold 14,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.74, for a total transaction of $7,531,605.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,791,460.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Felicia F. Norwood sold 14,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.74, for a total transaction of $7,531,605.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,791,460.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 753 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $376,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,554,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Elevance Health

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. abrdn plc lifted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 86.8% in the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 278,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,281,000 after purchasing an additional 129,364 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 52,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,663,000 after purchasing an additional 9,199 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Elevance Health in the fourth quarter valued at $218,000. Chicago Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 244.2% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 7,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,314,000 after purchasing an additional 4,986 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Elevance Health during the fourth quarter worth $2,235,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of Elevance Health stock opened at $539.70 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $511.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $485.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.40, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.78. Elevance Health has a twelve month low of $412.00 and a twelve month high of $542.07.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The company reported $10.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.54 by $0.10. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 20.62% and a net margin of 3.64%. The business had revenue of $42.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $9.46 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Elevance Health will post 37.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.64%.

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.