Bridgewater Associates LP Raises Position in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Bridgewater Associates LP grew its holdings in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 49.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,049 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,463 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $32,265,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kennedy Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Elevance Health during the 1st quarter valued at $3,309,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in Elevance Health by 6.4% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,480,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 5.2% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 6,229 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,230,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the period. Comerica Bank lifted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 54,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,243,000 after buying an additional 1,476 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hancock Whitney Corp increased its holdings in Elevance Health by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 3,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,854,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of ELV opened at $401.80 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.19 billion, a PE ratio of 14.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.85. The company’s fifty day moving average is $454.96 and its 200 day moving average is $506.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.50. Elevance Health, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $391.02 and a fifty-two week high of $567.26.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The company reported $8.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.66 by ($1.29). The business had revenue of $44.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.47 billion. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 19.56% and a net margin of 3.68%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $8.99 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 32.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ELV. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $643.00 to $551.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays cut their price target on Elevance Health from $622.00 to $501.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Elevance Health from $593.00 to $495.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $520.00 target price (down previously from $620.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Elevance Health from $605.00 to $555.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $539.20.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 7,417 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $432.14, for a total value of $3,205,182.38. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,639,915.22. This represents a 46.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.29% 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.