Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation, twelve have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $544.53.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Raymond James set a $485.00 price target on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen reduced their price target 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. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $600.00 to $485.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $520.00 price target (down previously from $620.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, October 18th.

Insider Transactions at Elevance Health

In other Elevance Health news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 7,417 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,639,915.22. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 51,967.1% in the 3rd 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 during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 85,533.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 532,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,972,000 after acquiring an additional 532,016 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 34.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 523,910 shares during the period. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Elevance Health in the first quarter valued at approximately $203,389,000. Finally, Maj Invest Holding A S acquired a new stake in shares of Elevance Health in the second quarter valued at approximately $173,753,000. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ELV opened at $417.86 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $499.42 and a 200-day moving average of $520.76. The company has a market capitalization of $96.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.85. Elevance Health has a 12 month low of $397.98 and a 12 month high of $567.26. 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 (NYSE:ELV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The company reported $8.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.66 by ($1.29). Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.68% and a return on equity of 19.56%. The firm had revenue of $44.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $8.99 EPS. Elevance Health’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Elevance Health will post 32.93 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is 23.77%.

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.