Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Short Interest Up 6.7% in October

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,850,000 shares, a growth of 6.7% from the October 15th total of 2,670,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,370,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 7,417 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $432.14, for a total transaction of $3,205,182.38. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,423 shares in the company, valued at $3,639,915.22. The trade was a 46.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Raelipskie Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Elevance Health in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health during the second quarter worth $27,000. PSI Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Elevance Health during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Elevance Health during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Elevance Health during the second quarter worth $30,000. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ELV has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Elevance Health from $605.00 to $555.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Raymond James set a $485.00 price objective on Elevance Health in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on Elevance Health from $600.00 to $485.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $593.00 to $495.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Argus cut Elevance Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Elevance Health has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $539.20.

Elevance Health Price Performance

NYSE ELV traded down $6.50 on Tuesday, hitting $394.20. 1,039,778 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,165,229. The stock has a market cap of $91.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $472.43 and a 200-day moving average of $512.56. Elevance Health has a 52 week low of $393.63 and a 52 week high of $567.26.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The company reported $8.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.66 by ($1.29). The company had revenue of $44.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.47 billion. Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.68% and a return on equity of 19.56%. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $8.99 EPS. Analysts expect that Elevance Health will post 32.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.77%.

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.