Short Interest in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Grows By 9.8%

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,130,000 shares, an increase of 9.8% from the October 31st total of 2,850,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,580,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ELV. Mizuho reduced their price objective 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. UBS Group decreased their target price on Elevance Health from $605.00 to $555.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Elevance Health from $643.00 to $551.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Argus cut Elevance Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Raymond James set a $485.00 target price on Elevance Health in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $539.20.

Insider Activity

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 transaction of $3,205,182.38. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,639,915.22. This trade represents a 46.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Elevance Health

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Raelipskie Partnership bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the second quarter worth about $27,000. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Elevance Health during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Elevance Health during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Elevance Health during the second quarter worth about $30,000. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Elevance Health Stock Down 1.3 %

NYSE ELV traded down $5.22 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $402.85. 705,445 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,189,146. Elevance Health has a 12 month low of $391.02 and a 12 month high of $567.26. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $442.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $502.21. 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 company has a market capitalization of $93.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.53, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.83.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last posted its earnings results 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). Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.68% and a return on equity of 19.56%. The company had revenue of $44.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $8.99 earnings per share. Elevance Health’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Elevance Health will post 32.96 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. Elevance Health’s 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.