Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,780,000 shares, a growth of 6.6% from the August 15th total of 1,670,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 962,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days. Approximately 0.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Transactions at Elevance Health

In other Elevance Health news, CEO Gail Boudreaux sold 34,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,478,674.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Robert L. Dixon, Jr. sold 305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $506.76, for a total transaction of $154,561.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,926,213.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gail Boudreaux sold 34,000 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.98, for a total value of $17,033,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,478,674.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,058 shares of company stock worth $17,588,116 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Elevance Health

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Elevance Health by 34.0% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,062,706 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,117,698,000 after buying an additional 523,910 shares during the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC purchased a new position in Elevance Health in the fourth quarter valued at about $239,244,000. Focused Investors Fund L P purchased a new stake in Elevance Health during the 1st quarter worth approximately $249,884,000. M&G Plc acquired a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $203,389,000. Finally, Maj Invest Holding A S purchased a new position in shares of Elevance Health during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $173,753,000. 89.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Elevance Health Price Performance

Shares of ELV traded up $2.04 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $541.50. 23,080 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,000,955. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.85 billion, a PE ratio of 20.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $536.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $528.77. Elevance Health has a fifty-two week low of $431.38 and a fifty-two week high of $567.26. 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 results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $10.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.99 by $0.13. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 20.64% and a net margin of 3.89%. The company had revenue of $43.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.04 EPS. Elevance Health’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Elevance Health will post 37.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ELV has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America reaffirmed 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. Barclays reduced their price target on Elevance Health from $621.00 to $611.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $643.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $600.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird began coverage on Elevance Health in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $649.00 price target on the stock. One equities research 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $604.29.

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.