Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Thursday morning.

ELV has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Elevance Health from $483.00 to $478.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Argus raised Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on Elevance Health from $501.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Stephens lowered Elevance Health from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $520.00 to $440.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $519.81.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

Shares of ELV opened at $427.27 on Thursday. 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 has a market capitalization of $97.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.68, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $400.52 and a 200 day moving average of $425.32. Elevance Health has a 12 month low of $362.21 and a 12 month high of $567.26.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 18.28% and a net margin of 3.38%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Elevance Health will post 33.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.71 per share. This is a positive change 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 yield of 1.60%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.71%.

Insider Activity at Elevance Health

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Elevance Health

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ELV. Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the fourth quarter worth about $1,031,000. DSG Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the fourth quarter worth about $1,477,000. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 33,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,187,000 after buying an additional 787 shares during the period. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co purchased a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the fourth quarter worth about $1,771,000. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 52.3% in the fourth quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 2,249 shares of the company’s stock worth $830,000 after buying an additional 772 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

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.