Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Receives $539.20 Average PT from Brokerages

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation, twelve have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $539.20.

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $589.00 to $484.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $520.00 price target (down from $620.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Argus lowered shares of Elevance Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Elevance Health from $585.00 to $478.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Elevance Health from $605.00 to $555.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th.

Elevance Health Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE ELV opened at $371.07 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Elevance Health has a 12-month low of $362.21 and a 12-month high of $567.26. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $399.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $483.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.83.

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). The company had revenue of $44.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.47 billion. Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.68% and a return on equity of 19.56%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $8.99 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Elevance Health will post 32.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.77%.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction 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 46.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Elevance Health

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 272,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,777,000 after buying an additional 11,646 shares in the last quarter. Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Elevance Health by 44.1% in the third quarter. Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc. now owns 640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Elevance Health by 2.6% in the third quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 2,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,204,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in shares of Elevance Health during the third quarter worth $10,883,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,212,839 shares of the company’s stock valued at $617,359,000 after purchasing an additional 168,220 shares during the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.