Sandy Spring Bank Reduces Position in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Sandy Spring Bank lessened its stake in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 17.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 13,180 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,840 shares during the period. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $4,862,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 57.8% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 71 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Tobam grew its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Tobam now owns 434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $325,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $736,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $549,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $396.30, for a total transaction of $1,388,635.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,008,970.80. This trade represents a 25.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.13, for a total transaction of $183,902.59. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,745.11. This trade represents a 19.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Stock Down 1.2 %

ELV opened at $430.87 on Thursday. Elevance Health, Inc. has a twelve month low of $362.21 and a twelve month high of $567.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $398.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $427.12. The company has a market cap of $97.96 billion, a PE ratio of 16.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.86.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $1.71 dividend. This is a boost from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.59%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is 26.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on ELV shares. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $520.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $501.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Stephens lowered shares of Elevance Health from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $520.00 to $440.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $483.00 to $478.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $519.81.

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.