Cerity Partners LLC Purchases 10,678 Shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 64,659 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 10,678 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $33,623,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in Elevance Health in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. PSI Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Elevance Health during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Elevance Health during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Elevance Health in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ELV shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $585.00 to $478.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $600.00 to $485.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Raymond James set a $485.00 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, October 18th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Elevance Health from $585.00 to $505.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Argus downgraded Elevance Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $539.20.

Insider Activity

In other 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,639,915.22. This represents a 46.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Price Performance

Shares of ELV stock opened at $402.55 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $460.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $508.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.68, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.50. Elevance Health, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $391.02 and a fifty-two week high of $567.26.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The company reported $8.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.66 by ($1.29). The company had revenue of $44.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.47 billion. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 19.56% and a net margin of 3.68%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $8.99 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 32.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is presently 23.77%.

Elevance Health 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.