Verity Asset Management Inc. Cuts Holdings in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Verity Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 58.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 738 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,024 shares during the quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ELV. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $341,956,000 after acquiring an additional 656,344 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 309.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 713,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $370,794,000 after acquiring an additional 538,978 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 85,533.1% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,397,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,246,574,000 after acquiring an additional 334,552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,461,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,320,024,000 after acquiring an additional 286,905 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ELV shares. Stephens lowered shares of Elevance Health from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $520.00 to $440.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $605.00 to $555.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $405.40 price target on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $520.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $585.00 to $478.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $517.03.

Elevance Health Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Elevance Health stock opened at $402.29 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $386.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $456.00. The company has a market cap of $93.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.71, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.83. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 12-month low of $362.21 and a 12-month high of $567.26.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.80 by $0.04. Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.38% and a return on equity of 18.28%. Research analysts anticipate that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 34.07 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $1.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.46%.

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.