Valmark Advisers Inc. Increases Position in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,807 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $979,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Elevance Health by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,457,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,102,208,000 after buying an additional 196,010 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Elevance Health by 3.7% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,498,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,814,118,000 after purchasing an additional 123,802 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Elevance Health during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,347,434,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,863,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $878,800,000 after purchasing an additional 110,462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Elevance Health by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,860,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $877,412,000 after purchasing an additional 11,093 shares during the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Elevance Health Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ELV opened at $556.89 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $532.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $525.65. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 1-year low of $431.38 and a 1-year high of $557.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.49. The company has a market cap of $129.14 billion, a PE ratio of 21.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.84.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $10.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.99 by $0.13. Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.89% and a return on equity of 20.64%. The company had revenue of $43.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $9.04 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 37.25 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ELV shares. Robert W. Baird began coverage on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $649.00 price objective for the company. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $615.00 price target on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Baird R W raised Elevance Health to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Elevance Health from $628.00 to $631.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Elevance Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Elevance Health currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $604.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 753 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $531.52, for a total value of $400,234.56. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,647,610.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Robert L. Dixon, Jr. sold 305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $506.76, for a total transaction of $154,561.80. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,926,213.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 753 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $531.52, for a total transaction of $400,234.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,647,610.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 35,058 shares of company stock worth $17,588,116. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

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.