Moors & Cabot Inc. Trims Stake in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Moors & Cabot Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 8.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,007 shares of the company’s stock after selling 180 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $1,088,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Elevance Health by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,201,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 989 shares of the company’s stock worth $466,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 8.8% in the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 248 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. increased its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 1.6% in the first quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 1,247 shares of the company’s stock worth $647,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Trust increased its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 2.6% in the first quarter. American Trust now owns 775 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 753 shares of Elevance Health 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 approximately $4,647,610.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 753 shares of Elevance Health 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 approximately $4,647,610.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gail Boudreaux sold 34,000 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.98, for a total transaction of $17,033,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,478,674.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,058 shares of company stock valued at $17,588,116. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ELV. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $649.00 price objective for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Elevance Health to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $621.00 to $611.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Elevance Health currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $604.29.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ELV opened at $539.46 on Thursday. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 52 week low of $431.38 and a 52 week high of $567.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.39, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $536.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $528.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $10.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.99 by $0.13. Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.89% and a return on equity of 20.64%. The business had revenue of $43.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.99 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $9.04 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 37.25 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 Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.64%.

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.