Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Raised to “Buy” at Argus

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) was upgraded by Argus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $450.00 price target on the stock. Argus’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 3.14% from the stock’s previous close.

ELV has been the subject of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Elevance Health from $483.00 to $478.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays lifted their price target on Elevance Health from $501.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 price target on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered Elevance Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on Elevance Health from $520.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Elevance Health currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $519.81.

Elevance Health Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ELV opened at $436.32 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.20 billion, a PE ratio of 17.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $397.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $427.09. Elevance Health has a fifty-two week low of $362.21 and a fifty-two week high of $567.26.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.80 by $0.04. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 18.28% and a net margin of 3.38%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Elevance Health will post 33.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Elevance Health news, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.13, for a total transaction of $183,902.59. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,745.11. The trade was a 19.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $396.30, for a total value of $1,388,635.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,116 shares in the company, valued at $4,008,970.80. The trade was a 25.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Elevance Health

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ELV. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Elevance Health during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,135,014,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 42.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,355,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,344,556,000 after acquiring an additional 1,893,947 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 47.6% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 3,225,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,189,828,000 after acquiring an additional 1,039,612 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 6,817.8% during the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 908,795 shares of the company’s stock valued at $335,254,000 after acquiring an additional 895,658 shares during the period. Finally, D1 Capital Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Elevance Health during the 4th quarter valued at $294,751,000. Institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

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.