Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Given New $551.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) had its target price decreased by Morgan Stanley from $643.00 to $551.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Elevance Health from $605.00 to $555.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Elevance Health from $589.00 to $484.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Raymond James set a $485.00 price objective on Elevance Health in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $530.00 price objective (down previously from $646.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Elevance Health from $622.00 to $501.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Elevance Health presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $551.07.

Elevance Health Price Performance

Elevance Health stock opened at $425.27 on Wednesday. Elevance Health has a one year low of $397.98 and a one year high of $567.26. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $515.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $524.55. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $98.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.07, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.82.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). Elevance Health had a return on equity of 20.64% and a net margin of 3.89%. The business had revenue of $44.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $8.99 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Elevance Health will post 37.26 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is 24.64%.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $432.14, for a total value 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Elevance Health news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 7,417 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $432.14, for a total value of $3,205,182.38. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,639,915.22. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 753 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 8,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,647,610.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ELV. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Elevance Health by 51,967.1% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 657,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $341,956,000 after purchasing an additional 656,344 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Elevance Health by 85,533.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 532,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,972,000 after purchasing an additional 532,016 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Elevance Health by 34.0% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,062,706 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,117,698,000 after purchasing an additional 523,910 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new stake in Elevance Health in the first quarter worth about $203,389,000. Finally, Maj Invest Holding A S bought a new stake in Elevance Health in the second quarter worth about $173,753,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Company 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.