Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Grows Stake in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its holdings in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 21.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,310 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 771 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $2,335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,201,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc raised its stake in Elevance Health by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $466,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in Elevance Health by 8.8% in the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. lifted its position in Elevance Health by 1.6% during the first quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 1,247 shares of the company’s stock valued at $647,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Trust grew its stake in Elevance Health by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. American Trust now owns 775 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ELV has been the topic of several research reports. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $600.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on Elevance Health in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $649.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Elevance Health from $628.00 to $631.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Elevance Health in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $643.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $615.00 price target on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $604.29.

Elevance Health Price Performance

Shares of Elevance Health stock opened at $539.46 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $125.38 billion, a PE ratio of 20.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $536.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $431.38 and a 12-month high of $567.26.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $10.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.99 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $43.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.99 billion. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 20.64% and a net margin of 3.89%. Elevance Health’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $9.04 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 37.25 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Elevance Health news, CEO Gail Boudreaux sold 34,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were 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 approximately $63,478,674.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 753 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $531.52, for a total value 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 $4,647,610.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Gail Boudreaux sold 34,000 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.98, for a total value of $17,033,320.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,709 shares in the company, valued at $63,478,674.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,058 shares of company stock valued at $17,588,116 over the last quarter. 0.35% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Elevance Health 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.